Quiz & test questions Grade 8 Social Studies & Civics
Ostrander Water Governance and Rates: A Grade 8 Quiz
A grade 8 civics and economics quiz mixing multiple choice, short answer, and percent computation on how a town governs its water utility and sets rates.
Objectives
- Students will identify how a water utility is governed and how rate decisions are made.
- Students will calculate a water bill as a percent of income and a percent increase in rates.
Vocabulary
- Rate hearing
- A public meeting where a water utility explains why it wants to change the price of water. Customers can ask questions and speak up before leaders vote on the new rates.
- Fixed charge
- The part of a water bill that stays the same every month no matter how much water a family uses. It helps pay for the pipes, meters, and workers the utility needs even when no water is flowing.
Also: municipal utility, percent increase, high-burden threshold
Teacher overview
This 30-minute quiz is worth 22 points and checks whether students understand how a town governs its water utility and how rate decisions affect households. It mixes three multiple-choice items, three short-answer items, and two computation items. The scenario uses the fictional town of Ostrander and its water utility so that every figure is built into the quiz itself. The high-burden threshold of 4.5 percent of income is the one outside figure students use.
Assessment
Use these facts for the computation items. In the fictional town of Ostrander, one household earns $30,000 per year and pays a yearly water bill of $1,200. A widely used rule of thumb treats combined water and sewer costs above roughly 4.5 percent of household income as a high burden. It comes from adding two EPA benchmarks, 2.5 percent for drinking water and 2 percent for wastewater; EPA itself has no single official cutoff.
- (2 points) Which statement best describes a municipal water utility?
- A) A utility owned and run by the city government
- B) A utility owned by a private company for profit
- C) A bottled-water brand sold in stores
- D) A federal agency that treats all US water
- (2 points) A town holds a public rate hearing mainly to:
- A) sell water to nearby towns
- B) let the public comment before water rates change
- C) hire new treatment operators
- D) test the water for contaminants
- (3 points) In one or two sentences, explain the difference between a fixed monthly charge and a per-gallon charge on a water bill.
- (3 points) What percent of the Ostrander household's yearly income is its yearly water bill? Round to the nearest tenth of a percent.
- (3 points) Is that household above or below the 4.5 percent high-burden threshold? Show the comparison.
- (4 points) Ostrander raises the average water bill from $50 to $56 per month. What is the percent increase? Round to the nearest whole percent.
- (3 points) Give one reason a town might raise water rates even though residents dislike higher bills.
- (2 points) Which decision would most likely require a public rate hearing?
- A) Fixing a broken pump on a weekend
- B) Choosing a color for the water tower
- C) Raising water rates for all customers
- D) Ordering new office chairs
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: A) A utility owned and run by the city government. A municipal utility is public, run by the local government, unlike a private company or a federal agency.
- Answer: B) Let the public comment before water rates change. A rate hearing is the public step where residents can respond before a rate decision is made.
- Answer: A fixed monthly charge is the same every month no matter how much water is used, while a per-gallon charge rises with the amount of water used. Full credit names both that the fixed charge does not change with use and that the per-gallon charge does.
- Answer: 4.0 percent. $1,200 divided by $30,000 equals 0.04, which is 4.0 percent.
- Answer: Below the threshold. The household is at 4.0 percent, and 4.0 percent is less than the 4.5 percent high-burden mark, so it is below it.
- Answer: 12 percent. The increase is $56 minus $50, which is $6; $6 divided by $50 equals 0.12, which is 12 percent.
- Answer: To fund needed work such as replacing aging pipes or upgrading treatment. Accept any reasonable reason tied to paying for infrastructure, treatment, or rising costs.
- Answer: C) Raising water rates for all customers. A change to what every customer pays is a policy decision that normally goes through a public rate hearing, unlike routine repairs or purchases.
Differentiation
Support
Provide the division already set up for item 4 ("1,200 divided by 30,000 equals ___") and the subtraction for item 6 ("56 minus 50 equals ___"), so these students complete only the final steps. Allow a calculator, and give a number line marked at 4.5 percent for item 5.
Extension
Ask students to find the yearly income at which the fictional Ostrander household's $1,200 bill would exactly reach the 4.5 percent threshold, and to explain in a sentence why a lower income makes the same bill a heavier burden.
ELL supports
Pre-teach municipal utility, rate hearing, and fixed charge with simple definitions and one example each. Provide a sentence frame for items 3 and 7: "A fixed charge is ___, but a per-gallon charge is ___," and "A town might raise rates because ___."