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Lesson plan Grade 7 Social Studies & Civics

Three Meetings, One Well Field: How Kingsbarrow Decides

A grade 7 civics lesson comparing three public meetings a fictional town holds about one well field, and what each one lets residents say, decide, and appeal.

Objectives

  1. Students will identify which body is elected, which is appointed, and which is a state agency.
  2. Students will match a resident's argument to the meeting where that argument belongs.
  3. Students will compare how the three bodies take public comment and reach a decision.

Vocabulary

Key words: public comment, hearing officer, appeal, well field, permit, quorum

Teacher overview

A town that wants a new drinking water source rarely gets to decide the question in one room. Land purchases, water rates, and environmental permits belong to different bodies, and each body runs its meetings under different rules about who may speak, who votes, and whether the decision can be challenged afterward. This lesson gives students three short meeting notices from the fictional town of Kingsbarrow, all concerning one proposed well field, and asks them to work out which argument belongs in which room. The misconception worth addressing is that a town council meeting is the place to raise any public question about water, and the three notices are written so that students work the distinctions out from the documents rather than being handed them.

Procedure

Hook (5 min): Write one sentence on the board: "A resident of Kingsbarrow thinks the new wells will dry up her spring." Ask students where she should go to say so, and record their answers. Tell them the class will return to the list at the end of the period.

Direct instruction (10 min): Introduce the fictional town of Kingsbarrow and the well field it has proposed on Applewhite Ridge. Explain that three separate decisions have to be made before a well can be drilled: the town must buy the land, the water board must set a rate that pays for the project, and the state must issue a permit saying the wells may withdraw groundwater. Name the three bodies and define "public comment," "hearing officer," and "appeal." Make clear that none of the three bodies can make the other two decisions.

Document study (20 min): Distribute the handout. Students read the three meeting notices and answer items 1 through 10 in order, citing the line of the notice that supports each answer for items 1 through 5. Circulate and press students who answer from memory to point at the text.

Comparison discussion (10 min): Build a three-column chart on chart paper with the headings Who decides, How the public takes part, and What happens if you disagree. Fill it in with the class from student answers. Ask the class which of the three processes gives a single resident the most influence, and require a reason drawn from the notices rather than a preference.

Closure and exit ticket (5 min): Return to the sentence from the hook and ask each student to write on an index card which meeting the resident should attend and one sentence explaining why. Collect the cards. If more than a third of the class still names the town council, reopen the discussion at the start of the next period with the permit notice projected.

Three Meetings, One Well Field: How Kingsbarrow Decides — Grade 7 Social Studies & Civics
Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Student Handout

Read all three notices from the fictional town of Kingsbarrow. Then answer the questions. For items 1 through 5, write down the words from the notice that gave you the answer.

Notice A. Kingsbarrow Town Council, regular meeting

  • The council has seven members. Voters elect them to four-year terms.
  • The council will vote on whether to buy 40 acres on Applewhite Ridge for a well field.
  • Notice of the meeting is posted at least 48 hours in advance.
  • Any resident may speak for up to three minutes. No sign-up is required.
  • The measure passes with a majority of the members present.

Notice B. Kingsbarrow Water Board, rate hearing

  • The board has five members. The mayor appoints them, and the council confirms them.
  • The board will hear comment on a rate of a fictional $4.90 per thousand gallons, which would pay for the wells.
  • Written comments are accepted for 30 days after the hearing.
  • Speakers at the hearing must sign up before the meeting begins.
  • The board votes on the rate after the comment period closes.

Notice C. State Division of Drinking Water, permit hearing

  • A hearing officer employed by the state runs the hearing. There is no vote by members.
  • The hearing concerns a permit to withdraw groundwater from the Applewhite Ridge aquifer.
  • Comments must address whether the withdrawal meets the standards in the state's groundwater rules.
  • The hearing officer issues a written decision within 60 days.
  • Any person who commented may appeal the decision to the state environmental board.

Questions

  1. Which of the three bodies is chosen by Kingsbarrow's voters?
  2. Which of the three bodies is appointed rather than elected?
  3. How many days does the water board accept written comments after its hearing?
  4. At the state permit hearing, what must comments address?
  5. Which of the three decisions can be appealed?
  6. A resident wants to argue that the wells will cost ratepayers too much. Which meeting is the right place for that argument, and why?
  7. A resident wants to argue that pumping the aquifer will lower the water level in a neighbor's spring. Which meeting is the right place for that argument, and why?
  8. A resident wants to argue that the town should not spend money on the 40 acres at all. Which meeting is the right place for that argument, and why?
  9. Name one way the town council meeting and the state permit hearing differ in who makes the decision.
  10. Name one advantage of letting a hearing officer decide a question instead of an elected council.

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: The town council.
    Notice A states that the council has seven members and that voters elect them to four-year terms.

  2. Answer: The water board.
    Notice B states that the mayor appoints the five members and the council confirms them.

  3. Answer: 30 days.
    Notice B states that written comments are accepted for 30 days after the hearing.

  4. Answer: Whether the withdrawal meets the state's groundwater standards.
    Notice C states that comments must address whether the withdrawal meets the standards in the state's groundwater rules.

  5. Answer: The state permit decision.
    Notice C states that any person who commented may appeal the decision to the state environmental board. Notices A and B describe no appeal.

  6. Answer: The water board rate hearing.
    Notice B is the only meeting about the rate that would pay for the wells, and the board is the body that votes on that rate.

  7. Answer: The state permit hearing.
    Notice C says comments must address whether the withdrawal meets the state's groundwater standards, and the effect of pumping on nearby water levels is that kind of question. Accept an answer that also mentions the council, provided the student explains that the council cannot decide the withdrawal question.

  8. Answer: The town council meeting.
    Notice A says the council will vote on whether to buy the 40 acres, so the decision to spend the money belongs there.

  9. Answer: Answers will vary. Reasonable answers note that seven elected members vote at the council meeting, while a single hearing officer employed by the state writes the decision after the permit hearing.

  10. Answer: Answers will vary. Reasonable answers note that a hearing officer decides against a written standard rather than by counting votes, so the outcome does not depend on which side brings more people to the room, and the decision can be appealed and reviewed.

Differentiation

Support

Give these students a version of the handout in which the three notices are printed side by side in a table with the rows already labeled Who decides, Who may speak, and What happens next. Highlight the sentence in each notice that answers item 1, so students begin from a worked example. Allow items 9 and 10 to be answered orally.

Extension

Ask students to write the three-minute comment the resident from the hook should deliver at the correct meeting. The comment must open by naming the standard or decision it addresses, cite one line from that notice, and close with a specific request. Then have them explain in two sentences why the same words would be out of order at either of the other two meetings.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "council," "board," "hearing," "comment," and "appeal" with a simple picture of three rooms, each with a different group of people at the front. Provide a matching card set pairing each term with a short definition. Allow items 6 through 8 to be answered by writing only the notice letter and one supporting phrase, and offer the frame "She should go to Notice ___ because that meeting decides ___."

Extensions

Have students find the agenda for the next meeting of their own city council, water board, or county commission and identify one item on it that concerns water. They can then write one sentence naming the body that would decide the item and one sentence naming a different body that would have to act before anything is built.