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Worksheet Grade 10 English Language Arts

Verdin Falls Lead Sampling Instructions: A Reading Worksheet

A grade 10 ELA worksheet where students follow a fictional home lead-sampling instruction sheet, track its exceptions, and explain why each step protects the result.

Objectives

  1. Students will follow a multistep home water-sampling procedure in the correct order.
  2. Students will explain how each instruction protects the accuracy of the test result.
  3. Students will identify the special cases the instructions define and how to handle each.

Vocabulary

First-draw sample
A water sample taken from a faucet after the water has sat still in the pipes for hours, usually first thing in the morning. It shows how much lead can build up in water that sits in a home's pipes.
Action level
A trigger number in lead and copper testing. If too many homes test above this level, the utility must take steps like improving treatment and telling the public.

Also: stagnation, aerator, water softener

Teacher overview

When a utility tests home tap water for lead, the way the sample is collected matters as much as the lab work that follows, because lead levels rise the longer water sits in contact with old pipes and fixtures. This worksheet gives students a fictional instruction sheet that the fictional Verdin Falls Water Department mails to residents who volunteer for lead testing. Students read the sheet as a precise procedure, tracking its order and its two special cases, then explain the reasoning behind each step. The task rewards careful reading of exactly the kind of technical document adults are asked to follow correctly.

Verdin Falls Lead Sampling Instructions: A Reading Worksheet — Grade 10 English Language Arts
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Read this fictional instruction sheet, then answer the questions.

Home Lead Sampling Instructions, written for this worksheet, from the fictional Verdin Falls Water Department

Thank you for helping test Verdin Falls water for lead. Please follow these steps in order so your sample gives an accurate result. First, choose a tap you use for drinking, usually the kitchen faucet. Second, do not run water anywhere in the home for at least six hours before sampling; early morning, before anyone showers, works best. This resting time is called stagnation, and it lets the test capture water that has sat in your pipes. Third, do not remove or clean the faucet aerator, the small screen at the tip of the faucet, before you collect the sample, because cleaning it can wash away particles the test is meant to measure. Fourth, place the open sample bottle under the tap and gently open the cold-water valve. Fifth, fill the bottle to the line without letting it overflow, then close the cap tightly. This first water out of the tap is called the first-draw sample. Sixth, write the date and time of collection on the label. Finally, return the sealed bottle to the department within twenty-four hours. Special case: if your home has a water softener, collect the sample from a tap that is not connected to the softener, such as an outdoor or basement tap you also drink from, and note this on the label. Special case: if your home has been empty for several days, such as after a trip, use your water normally for a few days before sampling, and do not run the tap ahead of time to flush it, so the result reflects normal use rather than unusually long standing time.

For context, the Verdin Falls Water Department notes that the federal lead action level is currently 15 ppb and is set to drop to 10 ppb in 2027.

  1. In your own words, list the first five steps of the procedure in order.
  2. What is stagnation, and why does the procedure require at least six hours of it?
  3. Why does the sheet tell residents not to clean the aerator before sampling?
  4. What is a first-draw sample?
  5. Identify the two special cases the instructions define, and explain what to do in each.
  6. A resident cleans the aerator and runs the tap for a minute "to be safe" before sampling. Explain why this would make the test result less accurate.
  7. Why does the sheet ask residents to write the collection date and time on the label?
  8. According to the note at the end, what is the lead action level now, and what will it become in 2027?
  9. Why might collecting the sample yourself, at home, give a more useful result than collecting it at the treatment plant?

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

Answer Key
  1. Answer: (1) Choose a drinking-water tap, usually the kitchen faucet; (2) do not run water in the home for at least six hours; (3) do not remove or clean the aerator; (4) place the open bottle under the tap and open the cold-water valve; (5) fill to the line and cap tightly. The sheet lists these as the first five steps.
  2. Answer: Stagnation is water resting in the pipes without being used. The procedure requires at least six hours of it so the sample captures water that has sat in contact with pipes and fixtures, where lead can accumulate.
  3. Answer: Cleaning the aerator could wash away particles the test is meant to measure, which would lower the reading and hide lead the resident is actually exposed to.
  4. Answer: The first-draw sample is the first water that comes out of the tap after the stagnation period, before any water is run off.
  5. Answer: Special case one: if the home has a water softener, collect from a drinking tap not connected to the softener and note it on the label. Special case two: if the home has been empty for several days, such as after a trip, use water normally for a few days before sampling and do not flush the tap ahead of time, so the result reflects normal use.
  6. Answer: Cleaning the aerator removes particles the test should measure, and running the tap flushes out the stagnant first-draw water. Both actions would lower the lead reading and make it look safer than the water the resident normally drinks.
  7. Answer: The date and time let the lab confirm the sample followed the stagnation and return-time rules, so the result can be trusted and compared fairly with others.
  8. Answer: The lead action level is currently 15 ppb and is set to drop to 10 ppb in 2027, according to the note at the end of the sheet.
  9. Answer: Accept any reasoned response. A strong answer explains that lead usually enters water from a home's own pipes and fixtures, so a first-draw sample at the tap shows what a resident actually drinks, which water leaving the plant cannot reveal.

Differentiation

Support

Provide the instruction sheet already broken into numbered steps with the two special-case sentences boxed, so students can focus on explaining the reasoning in items 2, 3, and 6 rather than parsing the run-together paragraph.

Extension

Ask students to design a short checklist a resident could tape to the faucet the night before sampling, converting the procedure into a form that prevents the most likely mistakes.

ELL supports

Pre-teach first-draw sample, stagnation, aerator, and water softener with simple definitions and a labeled picture of a faucet with its aerator. Allow items 1 and 5 to be answered as a numbered list of short phrases rather than full sentences.