Quiz & test questions Grade 3 Social Studies & Civics
Larkenmoor's Boil-Water Notice: A Grade 3 Civics Quiz
A 20-point grade 3 quiz built on a short boil-water notice from a fictional town water department, asking students to answer by pointing to the text.
Objectives
- Students will answer questions by pointing to sentences in a public notice.
- Students will explain why a town posts a boil-water notice after a main break.
- Students will name one service the water department offers during the notice.
Vocabulary
- Water main
- A big underground pipe that carries drinking water beneath the streets to a neighborhood. Smaller service lines branch off it to reach each building.
Also: notice, sample
Teacher overview
This 30-minute quiz is worth 20 points and checks two things at once: whether students can answer questions by referring to a short public notice, and whether they can explain why a town posts one. The notice comes from the water department of Larkenmoor, a fictional town, after a main break. Third graders often think a boil-water notice means the water is poisoned or that the whole town has run out of water, so items 4, 5, and 7 keep the reason narrow and factual: the pressure dropped, so the testers are checking, and the notice ends when the tests come back clean. Point out before the quiz that the notice also tells people what is still safe, which is the part students most often skip.
Assessment
Read this notice from a made-up town. Then answer the questions. You may look back at the notice as often as you like.
A Notice from the Larkenmoor Water Department
Posted Tuesday morning on the town website and at the library.
Yesterday a water main broke on Fenn Street. When a main breaks, the water pressure drops. Germs can then get into the pipes. Our testers took water samples from six places in town. The tests take one full day.
Until the tests come back clean, please boil all water for drinking, cooking, and brushing teeth. Bring the water to a boil. Let it boil for one minute. Then let it cool.
Water for washing hands and washing clothes is safe to use without boiling.
We will post a new notice when the water is safe again. Call the water office if you need bottled water. The office is open all day.
(2 points) What made the water department post this notice?
- A) A water main broke on Fenn Street.
- B) The town ran out of water.
- C) A storm knocked down a tree.
- D) The library closed for the day.
(2 points) How long should people let the water boil?
- A) One second
- B) One minute
- C) One hour
- D) One day
(3 points) Copy the sentence from the notice that tells you washing clothes does not need boiled water.
(3 points) The notice says the tests take one full day. Explain why the department cannot say right away that the water is safe.
(2 points) From how many places in town did the testers take samples?
- A) One place
- B) Two places
- C) Six places
- D) Ten places
(2 points) What happens in the pipes when the water pressure drops?
- A) Germs can get in.
- B) The pipes turn to ice.
- C) The water gets warmer.
- D) Nothing changes at all.
(3 points) A notice like this one is a way a town solves a problem that many people share. Explain why the department posted the notice at the library and on the town website instead of telling one family at a time.
(3 points) Name one thing the water department offers to help people while the notice is in effect.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
Answer: A) A water main broke on Fenn Street. The first paragraph of the notice names the break as the reason.
Answer: B) One minute. The notice says to let the water boil for one minute, then cool.
Answer: Water for washing hands and washing clothes is safe to use without boiling. Accept the sentence copied exactly or with small spelling slips.
Answer: Accept any answer noting that the test results are not back yet, that the tests take a full day, or that the department will not say the water is safe until it knows.
Answer: C) Six places. The notice says testers took samples from six places in town.
Answer: A) Germs can get in. The notice states that a pressure drop lets germs enter the pipes.
Answer: Accept any answer noting that the break affected the whole town, so everyone needs the same message quickly, and a posted notice reaches many people at once.
Answer: Bottled water from the water office. Accept also the promise to post a new notice when the water is safe again.
Differentiation
Support
Give each student a copy of the notice with the four sections labeled in the margin: what happened, what to do, what is still safe, and what comes next. Read the notice aloud once, then let students underline the sentence they used for items 3 and 6.
Extension
Ask students to rewrite the notice as a 30-second radio message that keeps every important fact and drops nothing a family would need.
ELL supports
Pre-teach boil, sample, and notice with a demonstration pot, a labeled sample bottle, and a posted sign. Provide the notice with cognates and key verbs highlighted, and allow items 4, 7, and 8 to be answered orally.
Extensions
Have students find out how their own water system tells people about a problem, whether by text message, phone call, or posted sign, and add the answer to a class chart of ways a town shares news.