Worksheet Grade 7 Social Studies & Civics
Pellingham's Water Bond Vote: A Turnout and Percent Worksheet
A grade 7 worksheet on a fictional town's ballot measure to rebuild its filter plant, using percent to compare turnout, precinct results, and the cost per account.
Objectives
- Students will calculate voter turnout as a percent of registered voters.
- Students will compare precinct results using percent of ballots cast.
- Students will compute what a bond costs each water account per year and per month.
Vocabulary
Key words: bond, ballot measure, turnout, precinct, filter plant, water account
Teacher overview
Towns that need a large water project often cannot pay for it out of one year of revenue, so they borrow the money by selling bonds, and in many states voters must approve the borrowing at an election. This worksheet uses a ballot measure in the fictional town of Pellingham, where the filter plant is old and the council has asked voters to approve borrowing for a new one. Students work with turnout, precinct results, and the repayment that lands on each water bill, and then consider why a measure can pass under one rule and fail under another.
Student Worksheet
The fictional town of Pellingham voted on a fictional $12 million bond to rebuild its water filter plant. Use these figures.
- Registered voters in Pellingham: 8,400
- Ballots cast on the bond: 3,150
- Yes votes: 1,764
- No votes: 1,386
- Water accounts that will repay the bond: 4,000
- Years of repayment: 20
Pellingham has three precincts. Their results are below.
| Precinct | Ballots cast | Yes votes |
|---|---|---|
| North | 1,200 | 480 |
| Center | 1,150 | 736 |
| Mill | 800 | 548 |
- What percent of Pellingham's 8,400 registered voters cast a ballot on the bond? Round to the nearest tenth.
- What percent of the 3,150 ballots cast were yes votes?
- What percent of the 3,150 ballots cast were no votes?
- Pellingham's rule is that a bond passes with more than half of the ballots cast. Did the bond pass?
- Some states require 60 percent of the ballots cast for a bond to pass. Under that rule, would Pellingham's bond have passed?
- What percent of North Precinct's 1,200 ballots were yes votes?
- What percent of Center Precinct's 1,150 ballots were yes votes?
- What percent of Mill Precinct's 800 ballots were yes votes?
- Which precinct supported the bond most strongly?
- Pellingham's 4,000 water accounts will repay the $12 million. Ignore interest for this worksheet. What is the total repayment per account?
- Spread evenly over 20 years, what does each account repay per year?
- What is that yearly amount per month?
- North Precinct voted against the bond by a wide margin. Give one reason a neighborhood might vote no even when the filter plant needs work.
- Fewer than half of Pellingham's registered voters cast a ballot. Explain one effect that low turnout can have on the result of a bond vote.
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: 37.5 percent.
3,150 divided by 8,400 equals 0.375, which is 37.5 percent turnout.Answer: 56 percent.
1,764 divided by 3,150 equals 0.56, which is 56 percent yes.Answer: 44 percent.
1,386 divided by 3,150 equals 0.44, which is 44 percent no. The yes and no shares add to 100 percent because every ballot counted was one or the other.Answer: Yes.
56 percent is more than half of the ballots cast, so the bond passed under Pellingham's rule.Answer: No.
56 percent is below the 60 percent that rule would require, so the same votes would have failed.Answer: 40 percent.
480 divided by 1,200 equals 0.40, which is 40 percent yes in North Precinct.Answer: 64 percent.
736 divided by 1,150 equals 0.64, which is 64 percent yes in Center Precinct.Answer: 68.5 percent.
548 divided by 800 equals 0.685, which is 68.5 percent yes in Mill Precinct.Answer: Mill Precinct.
Mill Precinct's 68.5 percent yes share is higher than Center Precinct's 64 percent and North Precinct's 40 percent.Answer: $3,000.
$12,000,000 divided by 4,000 accounts equals $3,000 per account over the life of the bond. This leaves out interest. A real bond also charges interest, so each account would pay more than this.Answer: $150.
$3,000 divided by 20 years equals $150 per account per year.Answer: $12.50.
$150 divided by 12 months equals $12.50 per account per month.Answer: Answers will vary. Reasonable answers name a cost or a fairness concern: households on fixed incomes may not be able to absorb $12.50 a month, residents may believe the plant can be repaired for less, or a neighborhood may feel it already pays more than it receives from the water system.
Answer: Answers will vary. Reasonable answers note that a small share of voters decided a cost every account will carry for 20 years, that a well-organized group can swing a low-turnout election, or that the result may not reflect what most residents want.
Differentiation
Support
Provide the division already set up for items 1 through 3 and 6 through 8, so item 1 reads "3,150 divided by 8,400 equals ___" and the student supplies the decimal and the percent. Allow calculators throughout. Give a reminder card showing that 0.375 equals 37.5 percent, and let items 13 and 14 be answered orally.
Extension
Ask students to find the smallest number of additional yes votes the fictional bond would have needed to reach 60 percent of the 3,150 ballots cast, and then to write two sentences on whether a higher passing threshold protects taxpayers or blocks needed repairs. They should support the position with a figure from the worksheet.
ELL supports
Pre-teach "bond," "ballot," "turnout," and "precinct" with a simple diagram showing a ballot box, a town divided into three parts, and a bill arriving at a house. Provide a filled-in example of a percent calculation from a fictional fourth precinct with 100 ballots and 55 yes votes. Allow items 13 and 14 to be answered in short phrases, and offer the frame "Turnout matters because ___."