Lesson plan Grade 6 Social Studies & Civics
Wexbridge's Rate Hearing: A Mock Water Board Role-Play
A grade 6 civics lesson in which students role-play residents, a business owner, and a water board at a fictional town's public hearing on a proposed rate increase.
Objectives
- Students will explain who typically decides water rates in a public utility and how residents can take part in that decision.
- Students will present a stakeholder's position at a mock public rate hearing.
- Students will calculate the percent increase a proposed rate change represents.
Vocabulary
Key words: public utility, water board, public hearing, rate increase
Teacher overview
Most communities' water systems are run either by a public utility, overseen by an elected or appointed board, or by a private company regulated by a state commission, and in either case a rate increase typically requires a public hearing where residents can comment before the decision is final. This lesson uses a fictional town, Wexbridge, to let students experience that process directly through a mock hearing. A common misconception is that utility rates are simply set by a company or government office with no public input; the role-play is built so students discover that residents and business owners have a real, structured chance to speak before a rate change takes effect.
Procedure
Hook (5 min): Ask students who they think decides how much a family pays for water each month, and whether ordinary residents have any say in that decision. Record a few guesses on the board.
Direct instruction (10 min): Explain that a public water utility is typically overseen by a board, made up of elected or appointed members, that must approve any rate change, and that most of these boards are required to hold a public hearing where residents and business owners can speak before voting. Introduce the fictional town of Wexbridge: suppose its water board has proposed raising the average monthly water bill from $40 to $46 to pay for replacing an aging pipe under Main Street, and tonight is the public hearing on that proposal.
Guided practice (15 min): Divide the class into groups of three or four and assign each group one role: Water Board Chair, Resident, Business Owner, or Utility Engineer. Using a role card, each group prepares a one- to two-minute statement from their assigned perspective, either supporting, opposing, or raising questions about the proposed increase from $40 to $46 a month, using at least one specific reason tied to their role.
Independent practice (10 min): Groups take turns presenting their statements at the mock hearing while the rest of the class listens as the "public." After all statements are heard, each student individually answers this question in writing: Wexbridge's board is proposing to raise the average bill from $40 to $46 a month. What percent increase does that represent?
Closure / exit ticket (5 min): Students write one sentence identifying one reason someone at the hearing supported the rate increase and one sentence identifying one reason someone opposed it. Collect responses and scan for one supporting and one opposing reason before dismissal.
Student Handout
Wexbridge Rate Hearing: Role Cards
Cut the cards apart and give one to each group. Wexbridge is a fictional town, and the proposal on every card is the same: raise the average monthly water bill from $40 to $46 to pay for replacing the aging pipe under Main Street.
Water Board Chair. You run tonight's hearing, call each speaker in turn, and keep time. After everyone speaks, your board votes. Explain what you will weigh: the cost to customers against keeping water flowing reliably.
Resident. Your household is on a tight budget, and your bill would go up $6 a month. Decide whether you support or oppose the increase, or what questions you want the board to answer first.
Business Owner. You run a laundromat that uses a lot of water, so the increase would raise your costs more than a typical household's. Explain how the change would affect your business and your customers.
Utility Engineer. You look after Wexbridge's pipes. Explain that the old pipe under Main Street could break, and describe what a break would mean for homes and businesses on that street.
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: 15 percent.
$46 − $40 = $6 increase. $6 ÷ $40 × 100 = 15 percent. - Exit ticket answer: Answers will vary by the roles students heard. A strong response might note that a resident or board member supported the increase because it pays for a needed pipe replacement, while a resident or business owner opposed it because it raises household or business costs.
Differentiation
Support
Provide each role card with one sentence already written ("As the Utility Engineer, I support this increase because ___.") for students to complete rather than draft from scratch, and allow the percent-increase question, using the fictional Wexbridge numbers, to be solved with a calculator and a written formula reminder.
Extension
Ask students to calculate, using only the lesson's figures, what the new total would be if the board instead proposed a 20 percent increase over the original $40 bill, and have them compare that amount to the $46 figure used in the hearing.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "hearing," "board," and "rate" with a simple illustration of people speaking one at a time at a podium in front of a panel of seated board members. Provide sentence starters for the role-play statements ("I support/oppose this increase because ___.") and allow the exit ticket to be completed with short phrases instead of full sentences.