Worksheet Grade 6 Social Studies & Civics

Blackhaw Ridge's Pumping Bill: An Energy Cost Worksheet

A grade 6 worksheet where students price a hilltop town's daily pumping energy, find the share of the monthly budget it takes, and test a lower-energy pump.

Grade: Grade 6
Subject: Social Studies & Civics
Material: Worksheet
Time: 35 min
Prep: No prep
Materials: None

Standards

6.RP.A.3 Common Core Math

Use ratio and rate reasoning to solve real-world and mathematical problems, e.g., by reasoning about tables of equivalent ratios, tape diagrams, double number line diagrams, or equations, including finding a percent of a quantity and converting measurement units.

How this material aligns: Students use rates for every thousand gallons and every kilowatt-hour to price pumping, then find that cost as a percent of a monthly budget, the ratio and percent work this standard requires.

All materials for 6.RP.A.3 →

D2.Eco.1.6-8 C3 Framework

Explain how economic decisions affect the well-being of individuals, businesses, and society.

How this material aligns: Question 5 has students find what share of the town's monthly water budget goes to pumping, and questions 9 and 10 ask them to account for that cost and name an action the council could take, which is the effect of an economic decision on a community this standard describes.

All materials for D2.Eco.1.6-8 →

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This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-09-03.

Objectives

Students will calculate the daily and monthly energy cost of pumping a stated volume of water.
Students will express a pumping bill as a percent of a monthly water budget.
Students will explain why moving water uphill raises what a town spends on electricity.

Vocabulary

Pump station: A pump station is a building full of powerful pumps that push water through pipes or lift it uphill. Pumps give water the extra push that gravity alone cannot provide.

Also: kilowatt-hour, elevation, operating cost, percent

Teacher overview

Electricity is one of the largest bills a water system pays, because every gallon that reaches a house on a hill has to be lifted there by a pump. This worksheet uses the fictional town of Blackhaw Ridge, where the Ravenhill Pump Station lifts water from a valley well up to a tank on the ridge. Students price one day of pumping from two rates, scale it to a month, find what share of the town's monthly water budget the pumping takes, and then test whether a more efficient pump would be worth buying. The misconception worth naming is that water bills pay mainly for water itself; in a hilltop system a large share of the bill pays for the energy that moves it.

Blackhaw Ridge's Pumping Bill: An Energy Cost Worksheet — Grade 6 Social Studies & Civics

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Worksheet

The town of Blackhaw Ridge sits on a ridge above a valley. The Ravenhill Pump Station lifts water from a well in the valley up to a tank at the top of the ridge. The town pumps 300,000 gallons every day. Use the table for every question, and show your work.

Item	Amount in this scenario
Water pumped each day	300,000 gallons
Energy used for every 1,000 gallons pumped	2 kWh
Price of electricity	$0.12 for each kWh
Whole water budget for one month	$9,000
Height the water is lifted	200 feet

The station pumps 300,000 gallons a day. How many groups of 1,000 gallons is that?
Pumping each group of 1,000 gallons uses 2 kWh. Using your answer to question 1, how many kWh does the station use in one day?
Electricity costs $0.12 for each kWh. Using your answer to question 2, what does one day of pumping cost?
Using your answer to question 3, what does the town spend on pumping in 30 days?
The town's whole water budget for one month is $9,000. Using your answer to question 4, what percent of that budget goes to pumping?
A salesperson offers a new pump that uses only 1.5 kWh for every 1,000 gallons. At the same 300 groups a day, how many kWh would the station use in one day?
Electricity still costs $0.12 for each kWh. Using your answer to question 6, what would one day of pumping cost with the new pump?
Compare your answers to questions 3 and 7. How much would the town save in 30 days with the new pump?
The tank sits 200 feet above the pump station. Explain in one or two sentences why a taller lift makes the electricity bill larger.
The council wants a smaller pumping bill without buying a new pump. Name one action the town could take and explain how it would lower the bill.

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: 300 groups. In the town of Blackhaw Ridge, 300,000 gallons divided by 1,000 gallons in each group gives 300 groups.
Answer: 600 kWh. Multiplying 300 groups by 2 kWh for each group gives 600 kWh in one day.
Answer: $72. Multiplying 600 kWh by $0.12 for each kWh gives $72 for one day.
Answer: $2,160. Multiplying $72 a day by 30 days gives $2,160.
Answer: 24%. Dividing $2,160 by the $9,000 monthly budget gives 0.24, which is 24 percent. Nearly a quarter of the month's money goes to moving water uphill.
Answer: 450 kWh. Multiplying 300 groups by 1.5 kWh for each group gives 450 kWh in one day.
Answer: $54. Multiplying 450 kWh by $0.12 for each kWh gives $54 for one day.
Answer: $540. The daily saving is $72 minus $54, which is $18, and $18 times 30 days gives $540.
Answer: A pump has to push against the weight of the water above it, so lifting the same gallons higher takes more energy, and more energy at the same price means a larger bill. Accept any answer that connects greater height to greater energy use.
Answer: Answers vary. Accept any reasonable action with a stated reason, such as fixing leaks so fewer gallons are pumped, filling the tank at night when some electricity prices are lower, asking residents to use less water in summer, or repairing the pump so it wastes less energy.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students the first two answers already filled in, so the sheet begins as a multiplication and division exercise rather than a reading task. Allow a calculator, and print the words "divide" or "multiply" beside each of questions 1 through 8. For question 5, remind them that a percent compares a part to a whole and that the whole is the monthly budget shown in the table.

Extension

Ask students to find how many months of savings it would take to pay for the new pump if it costs a stated price in this fictional scenario, such as $12,000, and then to write a two-sentence recommendation to the council. Students should say plainly whether the payback period is short enough to be worth the purchase.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "pump," "lift," "kilowatt-hour," and "budget" with a simple side-view drawing of a valley well, a pump, a pipe running up a slope, and a tank on top. Provide the sentence frame "One day of pumping costs ___ because ___ kWh times ___ equals ___." Allow questions 9 and 10 to be answered in short phrases or with a labeled sketch.

Extensions

Look at a recent electric bill from home or school and find the price charged for each kilowatt-hour. Students can compare that price to the one in this fictional scenario and recalculate the town's daily pumping cost using the real local price, then explain in one sentence how the town's bill would change if it moved to their area.