Classroom activity Grade 4 Social Studies & Civics
The Prospect Town Water Vote: A Grade 4 Decision Role-Play
A grade 4 civics role-play where students take on resident roles at a town meeting and vote between building a new well or starting a strict watering schedule.
Objectives
- Students will present a resident's point of view on a town water decision.
- Students will weigh the benefit and cost of two options before voting on one.
Vocabulary
Key words: proposal, benefit, cost
Teacher overview
This is a small-group role-play for a class of about 20 to 25 students, working in town-meeting groups of five. Each group is the town of Prospect, a fictional town that is running short of water. Every student holds a role card for a different resident, each with a real reason to care about the decision. The group must choose between two proposals, and each role speaks before the group votes. The role-play teaches how a town makes a policy by hearing different people and weighing what each choice gives up and gains.
Activity Directions
Before class, print the role cards and one proposal sheet per group that describes the two proposals in step 2. Suppose the town of Prospect does not have enough water for its growing needs, and the town must choose one of two plans to fix the problem.
Explain the two proposals from the proposal sheet. Proposal One is to build a new well, which would give the town more water so families and businesses can keep growing, but it would raise each family's water bill by about 6 dollars a month. Proposal Two is to start a strict watering schedule, letting each home water its lawn only two days a week, which costs almost nothing but means browner lawns and less water for gardens and shops.
Divide the class into groups of five. Give each student a different role card (see Student Handout) and give each group one proposal sheet. Have students read their role cards quietly.
Open each group's town meeting. Going around the group, each student speaks for about one minute as their resident, naming which proposal they lean toward and giving one benefit and one cost from their role's point of view.
After everyone has spoken, the group discusses for five minutes. Students may change their minds based on what others said, which is part of how a real meeting works.
Hold the vote. Each student writes "Well" or "Schedule" on a slip of paper. Count the votes and record which proposal each group chose on chart paper.
Bring the class together. Compare how the groups voted. Some groups may choose differently, which shows that reasonable people can weigh the same benefits and costs and still disagree.
Close with the debrief questions below, tying the vote back to the benefits and costs each resident named. End the activity once every group has reported its vote and the debrief has been discussed.
Student Handout
Role 1: The farmer. You grow vegetables just outside town and need steady water for your crops. Less water could hurt your harvest.
Role 2: The parent on a careful budget. Your family watches every dollar. A higher water bill each month would be hard for you.
Role 3: The plant nursery owner. Your shop sells plants and needs to water them often. A strict schedule could hurt your business.
Role 4: The longtime resident. You have lived through dry years before. You believe the town should learn to use less water rather than always build more.
Role 5: The council member. You must think about the whole town, not just one family or shop. You want a plan that is fair to everyone.
From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.
Answer Key
Debrief question: "What is one benefit and one cost of building the new well?"
Answer: A benefit is that the town gets more water, so families and businesses can keep growing. A cost is that each family's water bill goes up by about 6 dollars a month, which is hard for people on a tight budget.Debrief question: "Why might the farmer and the parent on a budget vote differently?"
Answer: The farmer needs steady water for crops, so more water from a new well helps that role most. The parent watches every dollar, so the higher bill from the well matters more to that role, and the cheaper watering schedule may look better.Debrief question: "Why is it useful for a town to hear many residents before it votes on a plan?"
Answer: Answers will vary but should explain that different residents feel the benefits and costs in different ways, so hearing them helps the town understand who each plan helps and who it burdens, and choose a policy that is fair to the whole town.
Differentiation
Support (below grade level)
Give these students a role card with a sentence starter already printed: "I am the ___. I lean toward ___ because ___." Read the two proposals aloud to the group before the meeting begins.
Extension (above grade level)
Ask a group to invent a third proposal that mixes both plans, such as a smaller well plus a watering schedule, and to explain one benefit and one cost of their new idea before the class votes a second time.
ELL supports
Pre-teach proposal, benefit, and cost with a two-column picture: what a plan gives on one side and what it costs on the other. Allow students to speak for their role using the printed sentence starter and one supporting phrase rather than a full speech.