Worksheet Grade 4 Art & Music

Storyboard How the Millpond Plant Cleans Water

A grade 4 art worksheet where students read a short text, order the steps that clean drinking water, and storyboard key steps with simple pictures and a caption.

Grade: Grade 4
Subject: Art & Music
Material: Worksheet
Time: 40 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: Printed worksheet with a blank six-box storyboard strip, Pencils and colored pencils

Standards

RI.4.1 Common Core ELA

Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.

How this material aligns: Items 2 through 6 and item 10 ask students to refer to details in the short Millpond text when explaining each cleaning step and drawing an inference about why.

All materials for RI.4.1 →

W.4.2 Common Core ELA

Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

How this material aligns: Item 9 asks students to write an informative caption that explains one cleaning step clearly, the short explanatory writing this standard expects at grade 4.

All materials for W.4.2 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-17.

Objectives

Students will put the steps that clean drinking water in the correct order.
Students will refer to text details to explain each cleaning step.
Students will storyboard the steps with simple pictures and captions.

Vocabulary

Key words: storyboard, screen, filter, caption

Teacher overview

A storyboard is a row of small boxes that shows the steps of a process in order, and artists use storyboards to plan movies, comics, and how-to signs. This worksheet has students read a short text about the fictional Millpond water plant, order the five steps that clean the water, and then storyboard those steps with pictures and captions. The text uses plain words instead of hard science terms so students can focus on the sequence and the drawing.

Storyboard How the Millpond Plant Cleans Water — Grade 4 Art & Music

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Read this text about the Millpond water plant. Millpond is a fictional town.

The Millpond water plant makes river water clean and safe to drink. First, a metal screen catches sticks, leaves, and trash. Next, the water sits still in a big tank. Heavy dirt sinks to the bottom. Then the water flows down through deep sand. The sand traps tiny bits of dirt. After that, the plant adds a small amount of chlorine. The chlorine kills germs that could make people sick. Last, the clean water is stored in a tall tank. From the tank it flows to homes and schools.

Put the five steps in order. Write the letters in the right order.
- a. The sand traps tiny bits of dirt.
- b. A screen catches sticks and trash.
- c. The plant adds chlorine to kill germs.
- d. The clean water is stored in a tall tank.
- e. Dirt sinks to the bottom of a big tank.
Which step catches sticks and trash? Use the text.
In the big tank, what happens to the heavy dirt?
What does the deep sand do to the water?
Why does the plant add a small amount of chlorine?
Where is the clean water kept before it goes to homes?

Use your storyboard strip for items 7, 8, and 9. Give each step its own box, in the same order as the text. If you have time, draw the chlorine step and the storage step in the next two boxes.

Draw a simple picture for the screen step. Add a one-word label.
Draw a simple picture for the sand step. Add a one-word label.
Write a short caption for the big-tank step, where the heavy dirt sinks. Use one sentence.
The text says clean water flows to homes and schools. Why must the water be cleaned first? Use the text to explain.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: b, e, a, c, d. The text order is screen (b), dirt sinks in the tank (e), sand traps dirt (a), chlorine kills germs (c), and stored in a tall tank (d).
Answer: The screen step. The text says a metal screen catches sticks, leaves, and trash, and that is the first step.
Answer: It sinks to the bottom. The text says the water sits still and the heavy dirt sinks to the bottom of the big tank.
Answer: It traps tiny bits of dirt. The text says the water flows down through deep sand and the sand traps tiny bits of dirt.
Answer: To kill germs. The text says the chlorine kills germs that could make people sick.
Answer: In a tall tank. The text says the clean water is stored in a tall tank before it flows to homes and schools.
Answer: Student drawing of a screen. A correct picture shows a screen or grate catching sticks or trash, with a one-word label such as "screen."
Answer: Student drawing of the sand step. A correct picture shows water passing down through a layer of sand, with a one-word label such as "sand."
Answer: Student caption. A complete caption is one clear sentence, such as "The water sits still in a big tank so the heavy dirt sinks to the bottom."
Answer: So people do not get sick. The text shows that river water has sticks, dirt, and germs, so it must be cleaned first or the water that reaches homes and schools could make people sick.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students the five step-cards already cut apart so they can move them into order by hand before writing the letters for item 1. Provide a caption frame for item 9: "The water sits still so the dirt ___."

Extension

Ask students to add a sixth storyboard box that shows where the water goes after the tall tank, and to write a caption that names one place in town the water might travel to next.

ELL supports

Pre-teach screen, sink, sand, and store with a quick picture for each word. Allow students to answer items 2 through 6 by pointing to and copying the exact sentence from the text, then to label their drawings with single words.

Extensions

Turn the class storyboards into a hallway comic strip titled "How Our Water Gets Clean," lining up each student's boxes in order. If a local water plant offers tours or a picture set, compare the real steps with the storyboard to see which steps the plant near you actually uses.