Worksheet Grade 5 Social Studies & Civics

Paper Plates or Washed Dishes: Costs at the Weldon Breakfast

A grade 5 economics worksheet where students compare the money, water, trash, and time costs of paper plates or washing dishes at a fictional town's pancake breakfast.

Grade: Grade 5
Subject: Social Studies & Civics
Material: Worksheet
Time: 30 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

D2.Eco.1.3-5 C3 Framework

Compare the benefits and costs of individual choices.

How this material aligns: Items 7 through 10 have students compare the money, water, trash, and volunteer-time costs of the two serving choices before recommending one with number support.

All materials for D2.Eco.1.3-5 →

5.NBT.B.7 Common Core Math

Add, subtract, multiply, and divide decimals to hundredths, using concrete models or drawings and strategies based on place value, properties of operations, and/or the relationship between addition and subtraction; relate the strategy to a written method and explain the reasoning used.

How this material aligns: Items 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7 require multiplying, adding, and subtracting money amounts written as decimals to the hundredths place.

All materials for 5.NBT.B.7 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-23.

Objectives

Students will multiply and subtract money amounts to find the cost of two serving choices.
Students will compare the benefits and costs of paper plates versus washed dishes.
Students will recommend a choice and support it with numbers from the worksheet.

Vocabulary

Key words: cost, benefit, supplies, volunteer

Teacher overview

The volunteer fire company in the fictional town of Weldon holds a pancake breakfast every fall, and this year the planners must choose how to serve it: buy paper plates and cups that go in the trash, or use the firehouse's own plates and cups and run the dishwasher all morning. The choice is a genuine benefit-cost problem, because each option costs something different in money, water, trash, and volunteer time. Students work the numbers for both options and then make a recommendation they can defend.

Paper Plates or Washed Dishes: Costs at the Weldon Breakfast — Grade 5 Social Studies & Civics

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

The fire company in the town of Weldon expects 240 guests at its pancake breakfast. The planners must choose between paper supplies and washable dishes. Use the numbers given in each question.

Paper plates cost $0.08 each. How much would plates for all 240 guests cost?
Paper cups cost $0.05 each. How much would cups for all 240 guests cost?
Plates for the breakfast would cost $19.20 and cups would cost $12.00. What is the total cost of the paper supplies?
The firehouse dishwasher washes 60 plates and 60 cups in one load. How many loads are needed to wash 240 plates and 240 cups?
Each dishwasher load uses 5 gallons of water. How many gallons of water do 4 loads use?
Soap and hot water together cost $1.05 for each load. How much do 4 loads cost?
Paper supplies would cost $31.20 in all, and dishwashing would cost $4.20 in all. How much more money does the paper choice cost?
A volunteer spends 15 minutes loading and unloading each dishwasher load. How many minutes of volunteer time do 4 loads take?
The paper choice fills 6 trash bags by the end of the breakfast. The dish choice fills 1 trash bag. How many fewer bags of trash does the dish choice make?
Which choice should the planners pick? Write two or three sentences, and use at least two numbers from this worksheet to support your recommendation.

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: $19.20. Multiply the number of guests by the price of one plate: 240 × 0.08 = 19.20.
Answer: $12.00. Multiply the number of guests by the price of one cup: 240 × 0.05 = 12.00.
Answer: $31.20. Add the two decimal amounts: 19.20 + 12.00 = 31.20.
Answer: 4 loads. Divide the plates (and cups) by the number per load: 240 ÷ 60 = 4.
Answer: 20 gallons. Multiply loads by gallons per load: 4 × 5 = 20.
Answer: $4.20. Multiply loads by the cost per load: 4 × 1.05 = 4.20.
Answer: $27.00. Subtract the smaller cost from the larger: 31.20 − 4.20 = 27.00.
Answer: 60 minutes. Multiply loads by minutes per load: 4 × 15 = 60, which is one full hour.
Answer: 5 bags. Subtract: 6 − 1 = 5.
Answer: Answers will vary. A strong answer names one choice and supports it with at least two worksheet numbers. For example: the dish choice saves $27.00 and makes 5 fewer bags of trash, but it uses 20 gallons of water and 60 minutes of a volunteer's morning; the paper choice frees that volunteer to cook but costs more money and makes more trash. Accept either recommendation when the numbers cited are accurate.

Differentiation

Support

Provide a two-column organizer labeled "Paper choice" and "Dish choice" where students record each answer as they go, so item 10 becomes a matter of reading their own table. Allow a multiplication chart for items 4, 5, and 8.

Extension

Ask students to add a cost the worksheet leaves out, such as the price of trash pickup or the value of a volunteer's hour, invent a reasonable number for it, and explain whether it changes their recommendation.

ELL supports

Pre-teach cost, benefit, and volunteer with simple examples from school life, such as helping clean the classroom. Provide a sentence frame for item 10: "The planners should choose ___ because ___ and ___." Allow answers to items 1 through 9 to be numbers only, without sentences.

Extensions

Have the class hold a two-minute planners' meeting for the town of Weldon in which two students present the case for paper, two present the case for dishes, and the class votes, using only numbers from the worksheet as evidence.