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Worksheet Grade 3 Social Studies & Civics

Help Wanted in Twin Pines: A Grade 3 Water Jobs Worksheet

Students read four help-wanted notices from the fictional town of Twin Pines and use the text to match each water job to the problems it solves around town.

Objectives

  1. Students will identify four jobs that keep a town's water system working.
  2. Students will use details from a short text to match each worker to a problem that worker solves.

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: plant operator, crew, lab

Teacher overview

The fictional town of Twin Pines has posted four help-wanted notices on the board outside town hall, one for each job that keeps water moving to homes. This worksheet treats those notices as an informational text: students read the short job descriptions, then answer questions that send them back into the text to match workers with the town problems each one solves. It works as a stand-alone community-workers piece or as the reading anchor for a careers talk.

Help Wanted in Twin Pines: A Grade 3 Water Jobs Worksheet — Grade 3 Social Studies & Civics
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

The town of Twin Pines needs four water workers. Read each notice. Then answer the questions.

Notice A. Plant operator. Run the water plant. Check the filters. Test the water each morning. Keep the water clean, every day of the week.

Notice B. Pipe crew member. Dig up broken pipes and fix them. Work outside in all weather. Work some nights, if a pipe breaks after dark.

Notice C. Meter reader. Walk from house to house. Read each water meter. Write down its number. A meter shows how much water a home used.

Notice D. Lab tester. Test water in the town lab. Look for germs. Tell the plant right away if a test fails.

  1. Which job keeps the filters working at the plant? Write the letter and the job name.
  2. Which worker digs up broken pipes? Write the letter and the job name.
  3. What does a water meter show?
  4. Which notice says the job has night work sometimes?
  5. Which job looks for germs in the water?
  6. The water at the school drinking fountain looks cloudy today. Which worker should check that water?
  7. Notice A says "every day of the week." Why does the plant need someone even on Sunday?
  8. Pick the one job you would most want to try. Write two sentences that tell why, using words from its notice.

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: Notice A, the plant operator. That notice says the job is to run the plant and check the filters.
  2. Answer: Notice B, the pipe crew member. That notice says the job is to dig up broken pipes and fix them.
  3. Answer: How much water a home used. Notice C states this directly in its last line.
  4. Answer: Notice B. It says the job includes some nights, if a pipe breaks after dark.
  5. Answer: Notice D, the lab tester. That notice says the job is to test water and look for germs.
  6. Answer: The lab tester. Cloudy water needs a test, and Notice D names testing as that worker's job. Accept the plant operator as a partial answer if the student points to the line about testing water each morning.
  7. Answer: Because people use water every day, so the plant cannot stop. Any answer that connects daily water use at home to the plant running daily earns full credit.
  8. Answer: Answers will vary. A strong answer names one job and gives two sentences of reasons that use details from that job's notice, such as liking to work outside for Notice B or liking science tests for Notice D.

Differentiation

Support

Have students underline one key word in each notice before starting, such as filters, pipes, meter, and germs, and let them answer items 1, 2, 4, and 5 by writing just the letter.

Extension

Ask students to write a fifth help-wanted notice for a water job the town forgot, in the same three-to-four-line style, and trade with a partner who must say which town problem the new job solves.

ELL supports

Read the four notices aloud twice before independent work, and add a small sketch beside each notice: a filter, a shovel, a dial, a test tube. Accept letter-only answers for items 1, 2, 4, and 5, and provide the frame "I would try ___ because ___" for item 8.

Extensions

Turn the four notices into a classroom sorting game: read aloud a town problem, such as a broken pipe on School Street or a strange taste at the drinking fountain, and have students hold up the letter of the worker who should get the call, then explain the choice with a line from the notice.