Graphic organizer Grade 8 Health & Consumer Science
Tap, Filtered, or Bottled: A Grade 8 Water Choice Compare Organizer
A grade 8 three-column compare-and-contrast organizer weighing tap, filtered tap, and bottled water across oversight, cost, environment, and best use.
Objectives
- Students will compare tap, filtered tap, and bottled water across five consumer questions.
- Students will explain when each option is the most sensible choice for a household.
Vocabulary
Key words: tap water, filtered water, bottled water, oversight
Teacher overview
This is a three-column compare-and-contrast organizer. Students weigh three everyday water choices, tap water, filtered tap water, and bottled water, against five questions a careful consumer would ask. The frame helps students see that the best choice is not the same for every household or every situation, because each option has different strengths in oversight, cost, environmental impact, and convenience. Use it before or after a discussion sparked by a family such as the Ridley household in the fictional town of Sunderland deciding what to drink at home.
Organizer
Fill in each empty cell with a short phrase. Compare the three columns row by row.
| Question to consider | Tap water | Filtered tap water | Bottled water |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where does it come from, and who checks its quality? | |||
| What can it remove from or add to the water? | |||
| Typical cost per gallon to the household | |||
| Environmental impact | |||
| When is it the most sensible choice? |
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Completed Exemplar
| Question to consider | Tap water | Filtered tap water | Bottled water |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where does it come from, and who checks its quality? | The public water system; the utility tests it and reports results in an annual report | The same tap water, passed through a home filter the household maintains itself | A bottler's source; sold in sealed containers and overseen as a packaged product |
| What can it remove from or add to the water? | Treated to meet legal limits, but may pick up lead from old home pipes | Can further reduce chlorine taste, lead, or other contaminants, depending on the filter | Varies by brand; some is filtered tap water, some is spring water, and minerals may be added |
| Typical cost per gallon to the household | Lowest cost per gallon by far | Low, a little more than tap once the filter is counted | Highest cost per gallon, often many times the price of tap |
| Environmental impact | Very low; no packaging | Low; some cartridge waste to replace over time | Higher; plastic bottles and shipping add waste and energy |
| When is it the most sensible choice? | Everyday drinking and cooking when the water meets limits and pipes are sound | When a household wants to improve taste or remove a specific contaminant at home | Short-term needs, such as a boil-water notice or travel where tap water is unsafe |
Differentiation
Support
Pre-fill the first row of the organizer from the exemplar as a model and provide a word bank of phrases such as annual report, cartridge waste, and cost per gallon for students to place in the correct cells. Allow students to complete cells with single words where a phrase is hard to produce.
Extension
Ask students to add a sixth row for a question of their own, such as taste or storage, fill it in for all three columns, and then write a two-sentence recommendation for a specific household situation using their completed organizer as evidence.
ELL supports
Pair each column header with a small picture (a faucet, a filter pitcher, a sealed bottle) and pre-teach oversight, cartridge, and gallon. Let students complete the organizer with short phrases or drawings and explain a row orally before writing it.
Extensions
Students can survey what their own household drinks most often and place their family in one of the three columns, then use the organizer to write a short note on whether a different choice would save money, reduce waste, or improve safety. This connects the comparison to a real consumer decision at home.