Graphic organizer Grade 9 Health & Consumer Science

Handling a PFAS Advisory at Home: A Grade 9 Options Organizer

A grade 9 compare-and-contrast organizer weighing a certified filter, bottled water, and reverse osmosis as responses to a fictional town's PFAS advisory.

Grade: Grade 9
Subject: Health & Consumer Science
Material: Graphic organizer
Time: 25 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

D2.Eco.1.9-12 C3 Framework

Analyze how incentives influence choices that may result in policies with a range of costs and benefits for different groups.

How this material aligns: The organizer's columns force students to weigh the costs and benefits of three consumer responses to a PFAS advisory, analyzing how each choice serves a household differently.

All materials for D2.Eco.1.9-12 →

D2.Eco.2.9-12 C3 Framework

Use marginal benefits and marginal costs to construct an argument for or against an approach or solution to an economic issue.

How this material aligns: By filling the cost and effort rows, students line up the marginal cost of each option against how well it removes PFAS, building an argument for one response over another.

All materials for D2.Eco.2.9-12 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-23.

Objectives

Students will compare three home responses to a PFAS advisory across cost, effort, and effectiveness.
Students will choose and justify one response using the filled organizer.

Vocabulary

Reverse osmosis: Reverse osmosis cleans water by pushing it through a membrane with holes so tiny that salt and most other dissolved things cannot fit through. It can even turn seawater into fresh water.

Also: PFAS advisory, certified filter, point of use

Teacher overview

This is a compare-and-contrast organizer built as an options-by-considerations table. In the fictional town of Ravenna, a notice tells residents that PFOA and PFOS in the tap water are above the 4.0 ppt federal limits, which water systems must meet by 2029 (EPA has proposed letting some systems apply for more time, to 2031), and households must decide how to get safe drinking water. Students fill each cell to compare a certified home filter, bottled water, and a point-of-use reverse-osmosis system, then use the finished table to argue for one choice.

Handling a PFAS Advisory at Home: A Grade 9 Options Organizer — Grade 9 Health & Consumer Science

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Organizer

Fill each empty cell to compare the three options for the Ravenna household.

Consideration	Certified home filter	Bottled water	Point-of-use reverse osmosis
What it does
How well it removes PFAS
What it does not solve
Up-front cost and setup
Ongoing effort
Best suited for

After filling the table, write one sentence naming the option you would choose for the Ravenna household and your main reason.

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

Completed Exemplar

Consideration	Certified home filter	Bottled water	Point-of-use reverse osmosis
What it does	Water passes through a cartridge certified to reduce PFAS at the tap or in a pitcher.	The household buys sealed drinking water and stops drinking the tap water.	Water is pushed through a membrane under the sink that blocks very small contaminants.
How well it removes PFAS	Good, if the cartridge is certified for PFAS and replaced on schedule.	Depends on the brand's own source and treatment, which the label may not fully state.	Very high, because the membrane blocks small molecules such as PFAS.
What it does not solve	It only treats water at the one tap or pitcher, not the whole house.	It creates ongoing plastic waste and does not fix the home's tap water.	It sends several gallons to the drain for each gallon it treats, and it costs more to install.
Up-front cost and setup	Low cost and quick setup for a pitcher or faucet unit.	No setup, but the cost repeats with every purchase.	Higher up-front cost and an under-sink installation.
Ongoing effort	Replace the cartridge on a set schedule.	Keep buying and carrying water regularly.	Replace filters and the membrane on schedule, less often than a pitcher cartridge.
Best suited for	A household wanting a low-cost start while it tests and plans.	A short-term fix right after the advisory, before a filter is set up.	A household that wants the most reliable removal and will keep the system for years.

Sample choice: For a household that plans to stay and wants dependable removal, the point-of-use reverse-osmosis system is the strongest choice, because it removes PFAS very well and lasts for years, even though it costs more to install.

Differentiation

Support

Give students the "What it does" row already filled in as a model, and provide a short word bank (certified, membrane, cartridge, per gallon) to draw from when completing the other rows.

Extension

Ask students to add a fourth column for a whole-house treatment system and complete every row for it, then explain when a household would choose whole-house treatment over a single point-of-use option.

ELL supports

Pair each option's column header with a small labeled picture (a pitcher, a bottle, an under-sink unit). Provide sentence frames for the final choice line: "I would choose ___ because it ___, even though it ___."