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Lesson plan Grade 2 Social Studies & Civics

Pebble Ridge Picks the Street That Gets New Pipes

A 40-minute grade 2 civics lesson where students hear two streets ask for the same pipe repair money, vote as a class, and compare the counts within 100.

Objectives

  1. Students will describe one way people improve a town by repairing its water pipes.
  2. Students will give one reason for their vote in a class decision about which street to fix first.
  3. Students will add and subtract vote counts within 100 to compare two choices.

Vocabulary

Key words: pipe, leak, repair, vote, town council

Teacher overview

The town of Pebble Ridge has set aside enough money to replace the water pipe under one street this year, and two streets have asked to be first. A choice with two options and one clear reason on each side is the right size for second graders, who can hold both reasons in mind while they decide. The lesson ends with a paper vote that the class counts and compares, which is where the grade-level mathematics lives. One misconception worth correcting here is the idea that the louder request wins; counting the votes and finding the difference gives the class a method it can explain to anyone.

Procedure

Set the scene (5 min): Read aloud: "Under every street in the town of Pebble Ridge there is a water pipe. The pipes bring clean water to homes and to school. Some of the pipes are very old. Old pipes crack, and water leaks into the dirt." Post two cards on the board, one labeled Ash Lane and one labeled Quarry Street.

Hear both streets (10 min): Read each street's request aloud, or have two students read them.
Ash Lane says: "Our pipe has leaked three times this year. Each time the crew digs a hole in the road, and our street closes for a day." Quarry Street says: "Our pipe is old and narrow. On warm days the water comes out slowly at the school on our street." After each request, ask the class, "What problem does this street have?" and write a four-word answer on the matching card.

Class vote (10 min): Give every student one sticky note. Each student writes a name or initials and places the note in the Ash Lane column or the Quarry Street column on the chart paper. Count each column aloud together, grouping by tens and then ones, and write the two totals under the columns. Ask the class how many more votes the taller column has, and work that subtraction on the board together with counters.

Survey handout (10 min): Explain that the grown-ups in the town also voted by mail. Hand out the student page and have students work the five problems on their own, using counters if they want them. Circulate and watch for students who subtract in the wrong order on item 2.

Close and formative check (5 min): Ask every student to hold up fingers showing the answer to item 4, the number of extra votes Ash Lane ended up with. If more than a third of the class shows a different number, rebuild that comparison with cubes before dismissal, then repeat the question.

Pebble Ridge Picks the Street That Gets New Pipes — Grade 2 Social Studies & Civics
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

Read aloud: The town of Pebble Ridge asked grown-ups to vote by mail. Here is what the mail vote showed. Show your work with drawings, cubes, or numbers.

  1. 38 people picked Ash Lane. 45 people picked Quarry Street. How many people voted in all?
  2. In the mail vote, 45 people picked Quarry Street and 38 people picked Ash Lane. How many more people picked Quarry Street?
  3. Ash Lane had 38 votes. Then 9 more cards came in for Ash Lane. How many votes did Ash Lane have then?
  4. Ash Lane now has 47 votes. Quarry Street has 45 votes. How many more votes does Ash Lane have?
  5. The town has 60 new pipe pieces. Quarry Street needs 45 pieces. How many pieces are left?

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

Answer Key
  1. Answer: 83 people.
    38 + 45 = 83. Many students will add 38 + 40 = 78, then 78 + 5 = 83.
  2. Answer: 7 people.
    45 - 38 = 7. Counting up from 38 to 45 reaches the same answer.
  3. Answer: 47 votes.
    38 + 9 = 47. Students may count on by ones from 38, or add 10 and take away 1.
  4. Answer: 2 votes.
    47 - 45 = 2, so Ash Lane now has 2 more votes than Quarry Street.
  5. Answer: 15 pieces.
    60 - 45 = 15. Counting up from 45 to 60 also gives 15.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students the handout with the numbers already written as an equation frame, so the only missing part is the answer. Keep cubes on the desk and let them build both two-digit numbers before comparing. Accept a spoken answer for item 4 if writing slows the thinking.

Extension

Ask these students to write a sixth problem of their own using the vote numbers on the page, then trade with a partner and solve each other's problem. Confident students can also explain in writing why the mail vote and the class vote might disagree.

ELL supports

Pre-teach pipe, leak, and vote with a picture and a gesture the whole class uses, such as two hands cupping a drip for leak. Post the sentence frame "I picked ___ Street because ___." Let students answer the handout with numbers alone before adding words.

Extensions

Tape a long piece of yarn down the classroom floor as the pipe under Ash Lane and mark the three leak spots the street described. Students walk the yarn and stop at each mark to say what the crew would do there, which turns the vote into something they can see end to end.