Worksheet Grade 4 Health & Consumer Science
The Ortiz Family Reads Their Water Report and Tracks Hydration
A grade 4 health worksheet where a fictional family reads their water quality report and calculates weekly hydration totals, building consumer and measurement skills.
Objectives
- Students will compare measured values in a water quality report to their stated safety limits.
- Students will calculate weekly hydration totals and convert them between cups, quarts, and gallons.
- Students will explain why reading a water report and tracking hydration are both consumer health skills.
Teacher overview
Every year, water utilities mail customers a report on what was found in their tap water, and knowing how to read one is a practical consumer skill, much like reading a water bill. This worksheet follows the fictional Ortiz family of Riverbend as they read their town's water quality report at dinner and then track their own household hydration for a week, connecting one health habit (drinking enough water) to one consumer skill (understanding what is in the water a family drinks). The two halves of the worksheet share a single family scenario so students practice reading a data table and using the four operations on measurements in the same sitting.
Student Worksheet
Riverbend's Water Quality Report
| What was measured | Result found | Safety standard |
|---|---|---|
| Chlorine (keeps water free of germs) | 1.2 mg/L | Must stay at or below 4.0 mg/L |
| pH (how acidic or basic the water is) | 7.4 | Safe range is 6.5 to 8.5 |
| Clarity (turbidity) | Clear | Must meet the clarity standard |
Look at the chlorine row. Is the result above or below the safety standard? By how many mg/L?
Riverbend's measured pH is 7.4. Is that inside the safe range of 6.5 to 8.5? Explain how you know.
Look at the clarity row. Does Riverbend's water meet the clarity standard?
Why do you think a town mails a water quality report to every home each year? Why send it even when the water passes every standard?
The Ortiz Family's Hydration Week
Suppose the Ortiz family's doctor gives them a goal. Each of the four family members should drink at least 4 cups of water a day. Use this goal and the facts below for items 5 through 9.
- 1 quart = 4 cups
- 1 gallon = 4 quarts
Suppose one family member meets the 4-cup goal every day. How many cups would that person drink in 7 days, or one week?
Take that person's weekly total from item 5. Convert it into quarts.
Suppose all four family members meet the 4-cup goal. How many total cups would the whole family drink in just one day?
Use your answer to item 7. How many total cups would the whole family drink in one full week?
Take the family's weekly total from item 8. Convert it first into quarts, then into gallons.
Reading a water report and tracking hydration are both ways to be a careful water consumer. Explain why. Use one detail from the report and one detail from the hydration week in your answer.
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: 2.8 mg/L below the standard.
4.0 mg/L (the standard) − 1.2 mg/L (the result) = 2.8 mg/L below the limit.Answer: Yes, 7.4 is within the safe range.
7.4 falls between 6.5 and 8.5, so it is within the range the report lists as safe.Answer: Yes, the report lists the water as clear, meeting the clarity standard.
This is read directly from the table's third row.Answer: Answers will vary. A strong answer notes that a report lets families check the water's safety for themselves instead of only trusting that it is fine, and that mailing it every year keeps the information current even if nothing changes.
Answer: 28 cups.
4 cups per day × 7 days = 28 cups.Answer: 7 quarts.
28 cups ÷ 4 cups per quart = 7 quarts.Answer: 16 cups.
4 cups per person × 4 family members = 16 cups in one day.Answer: 112 cups.
16 cups per day × 7 days = 112 cups in one week.Answer: 7 gallons.
112 cups ÷ 4 cups per quart = 28 quarts. 28 quarts ÷ 4 quarts per gallon = 7 gallons.Answer: Answers will vary but should connect both parts of the worksheet. A strong answer might say a careful water consumer checks the report to know the water is safe (for example, the chlorine result staying 2.8 mg/L below the limit) and also pays attention to how much water the family actually drinks (for example, reaching 112 cups, or 7 gallons, in a week).
Differentiation
Support (below grade level)
Provide the chlorine subtraction (4.0 − 1.2) already modeled as a solved example before students answer item 1 on their own, and allow a calculator for the division steps in items 6 and 9.
Extension (above grade level)
Ask students to figure out how many total gallons the whole Ortiz family would drink over four full weeks at the same daily rate, and to explain which unit (cups, quarts, or gallons) they think is most useful for a family grocery list of bottled water, and why.
ELL supports
Pre-teach report, standard, chlorine, and hydration with simple icons (a water drop, a checkmark, a calendar). Allow students to answer items 2, 3, and 4 with short phrases or a thumbs-up/thumbs-down gesture check before writing a full sentence.