Graphic organizer Grade 6 Health & Consumer Science
From Reservoir to Tap: A Grade 6 Water Safety Chain Organizer
A grade 6 cause-and-effect chain organizer that maps the steps water passes through on its way to the tap and why each step keeps the water safe to drink.
Objectives
- Students will sequence the steps water passes through from a reservoir to the tap.
- Students will explain why each treatment step helps keep drinking water safe.
Vocabulary
- Reservoir
- A human-made lake, usually created by a dam, that stores water for later. Reservoirs supply cities and farms and help control floods.
- Coagulation
- Coagulation is the first cleaning step at a drinking water plant. Operators quickly mix in a chemical that makes tiny bits of dirt stop pushing each other away so they can start sticking together.
Also: filtering, disinfecting
Teacher overview
This organizer is a cause-and-effect chain that follows water from a reservoir all the way to a kitchen tap. Students fill in what happens at each step and why that step helps make the water safe to drink, then read the chain in order to see how the steps build on one another. It supports the consumer idea that tap water is safe because of a series of steps, not a single one.
Organizer
Fill in each row. Read the chain top to bottom: Step 1 → Step 2 → Step 3 → Step 4 → Step 5 → Step 6 → Step 7.
| Step | What happens at this step | Why this step keeps water safe |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Source (reservoir or river) | ||
| 2. Mixing (coagulation) | ||
| 3. Settling | ||
| 4. Filtering | ||
| 5. Disinfecting | ||
| 6. Storage (water tower) | ||
| 7. Your tap |
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Completed Exemplar
| Step | What happens at this step | Why this step keeps water safe |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Source (reservoir or river) | Raw water is collected from a lake, reservoir, or river. | The raw water is not yet safe to drink, so it must be cleaned before anyone uses it. |
| 2. Mixing (coagulation) | A safe treatment chemical is added and mixed in, making tiny bits of dirt clump together. | Clumping lets the dirt be removed later instead of passing through to your glass. |
| 3. Settling | The water sits quietly in a large basin so the heavy clumps sink to the bottom. | Taking out the settled dirt removes material that could carry germs. |
| 4. Filtering | The water passes down through layers of sand and gravel. | Filtering traps the smaller bits that the settling step left behind. |
| 5. Disinfecting | A small amount of chlorine is added to the clear water. | The chlorine kills bacteria and other germs that could make people sick. |
| 6. Storage (water tower) | The clean water is held in a tank or tower until homes need it. | A little chlorine stays in the water and keeps protecting it on the way through the pipes. |
| 7. Your tap | The water travels through pipes to homes and schools. | By this step the water has been cleaned, filtered, and disinfected, so it is safe to drink. |
Differentiation
Support
Pre-fill the "Step" column and one full row (Filtering) as a model, and give students a word bank of key terms such as "clump," "settle," "sand," and "chlorine" to place in the correct rows. Provide simple icons beside each step name.
Extension
Ask students to add a branch off Step 5 showing what happens if the disinfecting step is skipped, and to explain in a sentence how the missing step would change whether the water at the tap is safe to drink.
ELL supports
Pair each step name with a small picture and keep the "Why this step keeps water safe" column open to short phrases rather than full sentences. Let students explain the chain orally by pointing to each step in order before writing.