Writing prompt Grade 10 Social Studies & Civics
Should Ambrose City Meter Every Home? An Argument Prompt
A grade 10 argument prompt where students take a position on whether a fictional city should install water meters on every home, using conservation and cost evidence.
Objectives
- Students will write an argument that states a claim on universal water metering and addresses a counterclaim.
- Students will use conservation and cost evidence from the background material to support their position.
Vocabulary
- Water meter
- A device that measures how much water a home or business uses so the utility can bill fairly. Reading the meter can also reveal hidden leaks.
Also: flat rate, incentive, counterclaim, conservation
Teacher overview
A town that charges the same flat water bill to every home has no way to reward a family that uses less. Switching to meters changes that, but meters cost money to install and can raise bills for large households. This prompt asks students to take a position on whether a city should meter every home, weighing the conservation gain against the cost. The real tension is that metering, which supporters see as fairer and more efficient, carries an upfront price that falls on everyone.
Prompt
Background: The fictional city of Ambrose does not measure how much water each home uses. Instead, every household pays the same flat rate each month, no matter how much water it uses. The city council is considering a change. It would install a water meter on every home and bill each household for the water it actually uses.
Supporters say metering rewards saving water. Right now a careful family pays the same as a wasteful one. The average US household uses about 300 gallons of water per day, and a metered bill would give every home a reason to lower that number. Metering also lets the city find leaks, because a sudden jump in a home's use shows up on the meter.
Opponents raise two concerns. First, meters cost money. Ambrose estimates it would spend about $200 to install each meter, a large sum across a whole city, and that cost would show up in everyone's bills at first. Second, a switch to metered bills could raise costs for large families or homes with many people, who use more water for ordinary needs, not waste.
Writing task: The Ambrose City Council will vote on universal metering. Write an argument that states a clear claim on whether the city should meter every home. Support your claim with at least two reasons drawn from the background material. Address at least one counterclaim a resident might raise about cost or fairness, and answer it. End with a clear concluding statement.
Planning Organizer
| Category | Your notes |
|---|---|
| Claim (should Ambrose meter every home?) | |
| Reason 1 + evidence from the background | |
| Reason 2 + evidence from the background | |
| Counterclaim a resident might raise | |
| Your answer to the counterclaim | |
| Concluding statement |
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Exemplar & Rubric
Exemplar response:
Ambrose City should install a water meter on every home, because a fair and efficient water system needs to measure what it charges for. Right now the city uses a flat rate, so a family that runs sprinklers all summer pays the same bill as a neighbor who saves every drop. That is neither fair nor good for the water supply. Metering fixes both problems at once. When a household is billed for the water it actually uses, it gains a real reason to use less, and small daily choices, like fixing a running toilet, finally show up as savings. Since the average US household uses about 300 gallons of water a day, even modest cuts across a whole city add up to a large amount of water saved.
Metering also helps the city catch problems it cannot see today. A hidden leak wastes water quietly under a flat rate, because no one is watching a meter. Once every home has one, a sudden jump in a household's use signals a leak, and the city or the family can fix it early.
Some residents will argue that metering costs too much, since Ambrose estimates about $200 to install each meter, and that expense would raise bills at first. This is a fair concern, and the council should phase in the cost so it does not land all at once. But the upfront cost is a one-time expense that buys years of savings and leak detection, while a flat rate wastes water every single month. A large family might also worry that metered bills will punish ordinary use. The city can answer that by setting a fair base allowance before higher rates begin, so metering targets waste rather than family size.
Ambrose should approve universal metering. It makes bills fairer, gives every home a reason to conserve, and helps the city find leaks, and its one-time cost can be managed with a phase-in and a fair allowance for larger households.
Rubric:
| Criterion | Emerging | Developing | Proficient | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claim | No clear position on metering | States a position but it drifts or is vague | States one clear, consistent position | States a clear position and previews the reasons behind it |
| Evidence & reasoning | No evidence from the background | Names one detail without explaining it | Uses at least two details and explains how each supports the claim | Uses two or more details, explains each, and connects them to the incentive metering creates |
| Counterclaim | No counterclaim addressed | Mentions an opposing view with no answer | States a counterclaim and answers it | States a counterclaim, answers it specifically, and ties the answer back to the claim |
| Organization & conventions | Ideas are disconnected; errors block meaning | Some structure; errors are noticeable | Clear paragraphs and a concluding statement; few errors | Purposeful structure with a strong conclusion; nearly error-free |
Differentiation
Support
Provide sentence starters for each organizer row, such as "Ambrose should / should not meter homes because ___." Allow the counterclaim and the answer to it to be written as two simple sentences rather than a full paragraph.
Extension
Ask students to add a second counterclaim about privacy or the fairness of charging low-income households by use, and answer it with a specific policy idea, such as a discount tier for low-income households.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "water meter," "flat rate," "incentive," "counterclaim," and "conservation" with a simple picture of a meter dial. Allow the organizer to be filled in with phrases before drafting, and provide a paragraph frame for the counterclaim: "Some residents say ___. This concern matters, but ___."