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Worksheet Grade 8 English Language Arts

Kestrel Flats Well Testing Notice: A Grade 8 PFAS Evidence Worksheet

A grade 8 worksheet where students read a fictional town's PFAS well-testing notice and data table, citing evidence to compare results against the federal PFAS standard.

Objectives

  1. Students will cite specific evidence from a testing notice and data table to support an analysis of local water results.
  2. Students will compare a fictional well result to the real federal PFAS drinking water standard.
  3. Students will use context clues to define technical vocabulary connected to PFAS testing.

Vocabulary

PFAS
A large family of human-made chemicals used in things like nonstick pans, waterproof fabric, and firefighting foam. They are called forever chemicals because they take a very long time to break down.
Maximum contaminant level (MCL)
A maximum contaminant level, or MCL, is the highest amount of a certain substance that federal rules allow in drinking water. Water systems test regularly to prove their water stays under each limit.
Contaminant
A contaminant is anything in water that should not be there, whether it is a germ, a chemical, or too much of a natural mineral, that could make the water unsafe or unpleasant to use. Treatment plants are built specifically to find and remove contaminants before water reaches the tap.

Also: trace amount

Teacher overview

Kestrel Flats (a fictional town used for this worksheet) reflects something many water utilities now do: testing for PFAS, a group of manufactured chemicals that break down very slowly and have drawn new federal attention. This worksheet gives students a short testing notice and a data table modeled on the kind of document a real utility might send to a town council, then asks them to read closely, cite evidence, and reason about what the numbers mean for a household deciding whether to trust its tap water. A common misconception worth addressing directly: students often assume any detectable amount of a regulated chemical automatically breaks the rule, when in fact a testing notice reports a specific limit and a specific measured result that must be compared against it.

Kestrel Flats Well Testing Notice: A Grade 8 PFAS Evidence Worksheet — Grade 8 English Language Arts
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

Kestrel Flats Water Utility -- Annual PFAS Well Testing Notice

Kestrel Flats Water Utility is a fictional utility used for this worksheet. Every year, it tests its three public wells for PFAS. PFAS is a group of manufactured chemicals. People sometimes call these chemicals "forever chemicals." They earned that name because they break down very slowly once they enter soil or water.

This year's testing looked for PFOA and PFOS. These are two of the most closely regulated PFAS chemicals. Federal drinking water rules set a limit for them called the maximum contaminant level, or MCL. The limit is 4.0 parts per trillion for PFOA and a separate 4.0 parts per trillion for PFOS. That number is hard to picture on its own. One part per trillion is roughly equal to a single drop of water in 20 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Water systems must meet these limits by April 2029. In May 2026, EPA proposed letting some systems apply for two more years, to April 2031, but that proposal is not final. The limits themselves would not change. Once the limit takes effect, a utility whose results are above the MCL must notify its customers. It must also begin working to bring the level back down.

Kestrel Flats tested all three of its wells this spring. The PFOA results are shown below. PFOS results were below 4.0 ppt at all three wells.

Well PFOA result (ppt)
Well 1 1.8
Well 2 4.7
Well 3 3.9

Well 2's result sits above the 4.0 ppt limit. Because of that, the utility already notified the households on that well. It has also begun looking into extra treatment. Wells 1 and 3 remain below the limit. Still, the utility plans to retest Well 3 earlier than usual next year, since its result sits close to the line.

Now answer the following questions using the notice and the table.

  1. According to the notice, why does Kestrel Flats Water Utility test its wells for PFAS every year?
  2. In your own words, define "PFAS." Base your definition on how the notice describes these chemicals.
  3. Find the sentences in the notice that state what a utility must do once its results are above the MCL. Write those sentences, or a close paraphrase of them.
  4. What is the maximum contaminant level (MCL) for PFOA and for PFOS, according to the notice?
  5. Look at the data table. Which well's result is closest to the MCL without going over it?
  6. Which well exceeds the MCL, and by about how many parts per trillion does it exceed the limit?
  7. The notice explains why one part per trillion is difficult to picture. Why do you think the notice includes that comparison instead of just stating the number alone?
  8. A Kestrel Flats resident asks, "If a well's PFAS result is below the MCL, does that mean the water has zero PFAS in it?" Using evidence from the notice, write the answer you would give.
  9. Identify one phrase in the notice that works as a context clue for the word "contaminant," even for a reader who has never seen that word before.
  10. Explain, using evidence from the notice, why it matters that a testing notice states an exact number rather than a general description such as "a small amount was found."

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: Kestrel Flats tests its wells every year because PFAS chemicals break down very slowly once they enter the environment, so ongoing testing is the way the utility tracks whether levels are changing over time. This restates the notice's description of PFAS as chemicals that persist rather than break down quickly.
  2. Answer: PFAS is a group of manufactured chemicals, sometimes called "forever chemicals," that break down very slowly once they enter soil or water. A strong answer paraphrases the notice's own description rather than copying it word for word.
  3. Answer: "Once the limit takes effect, a utility whose results are above the MCL must notify its customers. It must also begin working to bring the level back down." Students may paraphrase these sentences rather than quote them exactly.
  4. Answer: 4.0 parts per trillion for each chemical, PFOA and PFOS.
  5. Answer: Well 3, at 3.9 ppt, sits closest to the 4.0 ppt limit without going over it.
  6. Answer: Well 2 exceeds the limit, with a result of 4.7 ppt, about 0.7 ppt above the 4.0 ppt MCL.
  7. Answer: Answers will vary but should note that a number as small as one part per trillion is hard to picture on its own, so the swimming-pool comparison in the notice gives readers a mental image that makes the scale of the measurement meaningful.
  8. Answer: No. A result below the MCL means the measured amount did not reach the regulated limit, not that the water contains no PFAS at all; the notice reports a specific measured amount for each well, and even Well 1's 1.8 ppt result, well below the limit, is still a nonzero level.
  9. Answer: Any phrase such as "Federal drinking water rules set a limit for them" or "manufactured chemicals ... once they enter soil or water" works as a context clue that a "contaminant" is an unwanted substance in water that rules limit and utilities must measure, even without a dictionary definition.
  10. Answer: Answers will vary but should explain that an exact number lets a resident compare the result directly to the legal limit and decide for themselves whether to be concerned, while a vague phrase such as "a small amount" gives no way to judge whether the water met federal standards.

Differentiation

Support (below grade level)

Provide a two-column reference sheet before students begin: one column defines "MCL," "PFAS," and "contaminant" in plain language, and the other lists the three well results next to the 4.0 ppt limit already written out. Complete item 4 together as a class before students work independently on the rest.

Extension (above grade level)

Ask students to rewrite the testing notice as a short letter a utility might send home to Kestrel Flats families, keeping every fact accurate but changing the tone to be more reassuring for Wells 1 and 3 while remaining honest and specific about Well 2.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "notice," "utility," "limit," and "trace amount" with simple definitions and a labeled diagram showing three wells feeding into one town's water system. Allow students to answer items 1, 2, 4, and 5 with short phrases rather than full sentences.