C3 Framework · Grades 9–12
Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.
Why water teaches this standard well
Water policy is rich in intended and unintended outcomes. The Clean Water Act transformed the nation's rivers, dam projects delivered power and irrigation while eliminating fisheries, and the Flint water crisis grew out of a cost-saving switch in water source. Evaluating these policies against their stated goals is authentic civic work.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
Grade 12 Lesson plan
A grade 12 government lesson in which students use a Halloway stakeholder brief to map federal, state, and local roles and judge who pays to replace lead pipes.
Grade 10 Lesson plan
A grade 10 lesson comparing acreage voting with resident voting in a fictional irrigation district, using vote shares and assessment shares students calculate.
Grade 11 Lesson plan
A grade 11 US history lesson tracing how an 1899 navigation statute became a pollution enforcement tool and comparing five instruments of policy change.
Grade 12 Lesson plan
A 75-minute grade 12 lesson in which students hold a state hearing on a fictional plan to downgrade a creek's designated use, then vote and defend the decision.
Grade 12 Lesson plan
A 90-minute grade 12 lesson comparing a fictional city's thirty-year desalinated water purchase agreement with building its own plant, across wet, normal, and dry years.
Grade 12 Lesson plan
A 60-minute grade 12 lesson on a fictional drainage district petition, where students find who votes, who is assessed, and who lives with the water downstream.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
A grade 9 lesson in which students negotiate as a joint watershed board over a fictional town's attempt to restrict land use in the township that holds its water supply.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
A grade 9 lesson in which students shade two district maps of a fictional city and find that the districts with the oldest storm sewers received the least investment.
Grade 10 Lesson plan
A grade 10 lesson on a fictional water authority's staffing gap, where students compute shift coverage and vacancy rates and weigh overtime against hiring.
Grade 11 Lesson plan
Students act as an arbitration panel in a fictional city where state law bars water plant operators from striking and substitutes binding arbitration for the walkout.
Grade 12 Lesson plan
A grade 12 lesson in which students sort a fictional school's lead results against two action levels, cost the remediation, and set a triage rule for a budget.
Grade 12 Lesson plan
A grade 12 lesson in which students set a stormwater fee for a fictional city using hard-surface billing units and compare it with the property tax it would replace.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
A 55-minute grade 9 civics lesson in which students price two lead service line replacement plans for a fictional city and judge which one meets the federal deadline.
Grade 10 Lesson plan
A grade 10 civics lesson comparing a storage tunnel with green infrastructure as the fictional city of Halvern negotiates a sewer overflow consent decree.
Grade 11 Lesson plan
A grade 11 civics lesson on eminent domain in which students analyze two fictional documents from a reservoir project that displaced the farm town of Brashear.
Grade 12 Lesson plan
A grade 12 civics lesson staging a formal public hearing on whether to remove or repair the aging Wrenfold Dam, with stakeholder testimony and a commission vote.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
A grade 9 civics and economics lesson where students act as budget analysts and weigh a rate increase against a bond to fund a fictional city's pipe replacement.
Grade 10 Lesson plan
A grade 10 lesson comparing three fictional utilities to show how public, investor-owned, and cooperative ownership change who a water system answers to.
Grade 10 Lesson plan
A grade 10 civics lesson in which students sort drinking-water responsibilities among the federal EPA, a state agency, and a local utility to map how oversight is shared.
Grade 11 Lesson plan
Grade 11 students role-play a permit-variance hearing for a fictional town's wastewater plant, weighing cooperative federalism and calculating removal efficiency.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
Grade 9 civics lesson using a fictional town's lead contamination scenario and the real Flint case to analyze how citizens hold local government accountable.
Grade 9 Lesson plan
Grade 9 lesson comparing mandatory regulation to voluntary incentives for farm nutrient runoff into a fictional bay, weighing benefits against unintended costs.
Grade 10 Worksheet
A grade 10 civics worksheet on a fictional state bill requiring private well tests at home sale, with committee roll call, testimony, and two amendments.
Grade 11 Worksheet
Students compute impervious-area stormwater charges for a fictional city, then judge whether the charge is a fee or a tax and whether its credit changes behavior.
Grade 11 Worksheet
Students analyze a fictional state PFAS bill against the federal drinking water rule, weighing testimony from a small utility and a health advocate.
Grade 11 Worksheet
Students compare two court-ordered sewer schedules for a fictional city, test each against a widely used affordability benchmark, and weigh marginal control costs.
Grade 12 Worksheet
A grade 12 worksheet in which students bill out a fictional utility mutual aid response, then judge who may request help, who carries the risk, and who finally pays.
Grade 12 Worksheet
A grade 12 worksheet on a fictional state supreme court opinion about a lake diversion permit, asking students to separate holding, reasoning, and what it left undecided.
Grade 12 Worksheet
A grade 12 worksheet that splits a fictional multipurpose reservoir's cost among flood control, water supply, hydropower, and recreation, then asks who repays each share.
Grade 9 Worksheet
A grade 9 worksheet in which students test three ways of splitting a fictional PFAS settlement among three water systems and decide who pays the remainder.
Grade 9 Worksheet
A grade 9 worksheet costing out a fictional city water main extension and weighing the annexation condition the city attaches to the offer.
Grade 11 Worksheet
Students divide a fictional town's groundwater cleanup cost among four responsible parties, work out what happens when one is gone, and judge the liability rule.
Grade 11 Worksheet
Students compare what a fictional city paid for a treatment plant under a federal grant with what the same city would pay today under a state loan.
Grade 12 Worksheet
A grade 12 worksheet in which students calculate a fictional city's system development charge two ways and trace who covers the gap when the charge is set too low.
Grade 12 Worksheet
A grade 12 worksheet in which students price a fish-flow settlement at a fictional hydropower dam and weigh lost generation against regional visitor spending.
Grade 9 Worksheet
A grade 9 worksheet using the pounds formula to test whether a fictional town's proposed setback ordinance would end land application of treated biosolids.
Grade 9 Worksheet
A grade 9 worksheet comparing acreage-weighted and per-owner voting in a fictional irrigation district, with vote shares, a majority inequality, and a vote cap.
Grade 10 Worksheet
A grade 10 worksheet on a fictional ballot question asking Ralston voters to approve a $48 million water bond, with debt service and affordability math.
Grade 11 Worksheet
A grade 11 civics worksheet on a fictional city's water enterprise fund in which students compute budget shares and evaluate a proposal to cut main maintenance.
Grade 12 Worksheet
A grade 12 worksheet in which students read a fictional city's drought contingency plan, compute reservoir percentages, and evaluate its staged trigger design.
Grade 9 Worksheet
A grade 9 economics worksheet where students find the per-household cost of PFAS treatment for a fictional water district and weigh two compliance options.
Grade 10 Worksheet
A grade 10 worksheet comparing two fictional states' lead service line replacement plans against the federal timeline, with pace calculations and policy evaluation.
Grade 12 Worksheet
A grade 12 government worksheet in which students audit a fictional water system's monitoring data against federal standards and flag violations that require action.
Grade 12 Worksheet
A grade 12 worksheet where students trace a fictional water district's budget gap, compute the rate increase needed to close it, and test it for affordability.
Grade 9 Worksheet
Grade 9 worksheet where students calculate a fictional rural water system's monthly turbidity compliance percentage against the real federal 95 percent standard.
Grade 10 Classroom activity
A grade 10 simulation where student groups act as households during a fictional boil-water advisory, sorting water uses and evaluating the warning system.
Grade 12 Classroom activity
A grade 12 economics activity where student teams choose a fictional city's water projects under a fixed capital budget, then adjust when federal mandates take priority.
Grade 10 Reading passage
A grade 10 passage on a fictional city's switch to chloramine, the byproduct problem behind it, and the objections raised at two public hearings.
Grade 11 Reading passage
A grade 11 passage on how Congress rewrote water pollution law in 1972, overrode a veto, and left most runoff, especially from farms, outside the permit system.
Grade 12 Reading passage
A grade 12 careers reading passage on how new PFAS drinking water rules are creating treatment, compliance, and lab jobs, with six comprehension questions.
Grade 10 Reading passage
A grade 10 passage on the cost of replacing America's aging water pipes, from infrastructure report card grades to the federal needs estimate, with policy questions.
Grade 12 Reading passage
A grade 12 passage on special-purpose districts, the elected boards that run much of the nation's water, and the accountability tradeoffs built into their design.
Grade 9 Reading passage
A grade 9 passage on how nitrogen and phosphorus both feed crops and choke a fictional estuary, and how a town's nutrient program produced mixed outcomes.
Grade 10 Reading passage
A grade 10 informational passage explaining how the Safe Drinking Water Act divides authority among federal, state, and local governments, with comprehension questions.
Grade 12 Reading passage
A grade 12 reading passage that follows how a contaminant like PFAS moves from first detection to a federal drinking water standard and on to local enforcement.
Grade 9 Reading passage
Grade 9 social studies passage on a fictional farming region that forms a groundwater conservation district to govern a shrinking shared aquifer.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
Students argue whether a fictional town should spend flood-safety money on automatic road gates or on teen driver lessons and alerts, using injury-prevention evidence.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
Students argue whether a fictional town should close its only public pool to save water in a drought, weighing heat illness, swim lessons, and water quality.
Grade 10 Writing prompt
A grade 10 argument prompt asking students to recommend annual lead testing, filtered filling stations, or both to a fictional school board, with exemplar and rubric.
Grade 11 Writing prompt
Students argue whether a fictional state should make water systems notify every customer within twelve hours of a violation, weighing trust against small-system cost.
Grade 12 Writing prompt
A grade 12 argument prompt on a fictional city's yearly transfer of water rate revenue into the general fund, with budget figures, an exemplar, and a four-level rubric.
Grade 9 Writing prompt
A grade 9 argument writing prompt on a fictional rental disclosure ordinance, with background, a planning organizer, a full exemplar essay, and a four-level rubric.
Grade 11 Writing prompt
Students weigh accountability against long-range planning and argue whether a fictional three-town water district should elect its board or keep appointing it.
Grades 10–11 Debate kit
A structured classroom debate on whether a drought-stressed city should purify wastewater into drinking water, with a two-sided evidence file built from real projects.
Grade 11 Debate kit
A grade 11 careers debate kit on whether adding PFAS treatment should raise the operator license class required at a small water plant, with two-sided evidence.
Grade 10 Debate kit
A grade 10 debate kit on a per-gallon groundwater fee for bottling plants, with two-sided evidence, role notes, a written case brief, and a four-level rubric.
Grade 12 Debate kit
A grade 12 debate kit on a fictional state's plan to train water operators through a monthly surcharge on every water bill, with sourced evidence for both sides.
Grade 10 Debate kit
A grade 10 careers debate kit on whether a utility should replace its staffed night shift with remote monitoring and an on-call operator, with two-sided evidence.
Grade 9 Debate kit
A grade 9 debate kit on whether a fictional town should hire a contract firm to run its water plant instead of employing its own licensed operators.
Grade 10 Debate kit
A grade 10 debate kit on a state bill that would merge a fictional village's troubled water system into a larger regional authority, with two-sided evidence.
Grade 12 Debate kit
A two-session grade 12 debate kit on a fictional city's choice between converting to chloramine and treating for organic matter, with evidence on both sides.
Grade 12 Debate kit
A grade 12 debate kit on whether a fictional township should install hourly reading water meters, with two-sided evidence on leaks, cost, and privacy.
Grade 10 Debate kit
A grade 10 debate kit on whether the fictional Ludlow Water District should raise rates now for PFAS treatment or wait for manufacturer settlement money.
Grade 12 Debate kit
A grade 12 debate kit on whether a fictional city may shut off water for unpaid bills, with genuinely two-sided evidence on public health and utility finance.
Grade 10 Debate kit
A grade 10 debate kit on whether a state should require farms in a fictional watershed to adopt mandatory nutrient-management plans, with two-sided policy evidence.
Grade 12 Project
A six-session grade 12 project where teams map a fictional city's intake watershed, inventory contaminant sources, and defend three ordinance provisions.
Grade 10 Project
A five-session grade 10 project in which students draft a watershed overlay ordinance and staff report for a fictional town facing a subdivision above its reservoir.
Grade 9 Project
A four-session grade 9 project in which teams write a staged drought ordinance for a fictional town board, including enforcement, equity, and a revenue memo.
Grade 11 Quiz & test questions
A grade 11 careers quiz on the cross-connection control specialist's work, applying a fictional city ordinance and hazard survey to choose backflow assemblies.
Grade 12 Quiz & test questions
A grade 12 careers assessment on who does the work of a lead service line replacement program, which credential each role needs, and what the record proves.
Grade 10 Quiz & test questions
A grade 10 quiz on who acts when a city's water system fails, using the fictional city of Ingram to test governance, funding, and policy evaluation.
Grade 11 Quiz & test questions
A 25-minute grade 11 quiz on water law and governance covering rights doctrines, interstate compacts, state primacy, the lead rule, and one affordability calculation.
Grade 12 Quiz & test questions
A 40-point grade 12 assessment on drinking water federalism, state primacy, and household affordability, mixing multiple choice, short answer, and rate computation.
Grade 9 Quiz & test questions
A grade 9 quiz mixing multiple-choice, short-answer, and computation items on water infrastructure funding, affordability, and the outcomes of delaying pipe replacement.
Grade 12 Quiz & test questions
A grade 12 utility-finance assessment applying real infrastructure and affordability data to a fictional city's rate decision, mixing computation and policy analysis.
Grade 10 Graphic organizer
A grade 10 cause-and-effect organizer tracing a federal PFAS limit through state primacy, a utility decision, and a rate case to a fictional household's bill.
Grade 11 Graphic organizer
A four-column comparison organizer for grade 11 civics, mapping ownership, rate setting, appeal routes, and voter access across four water governance models.
Grade 12 Graphic organizer
A grade 12 policy-tool comparison frame in which students weigh five ways a fictional city could reduce summer lawn watering, by cost, enforcement, and objection.
Grade 9 Graphic organizer
A grade 9 three-column organizer comparing a city department, a regional authority, and an investor-owned utility on who decides, who pays, and who can object.
Grade 10 Graphic organizer
A grade 10 careers organizer mapping four drought stages to customer rules, the utility role responsible, revenue effects, and unintended outcomes to watch.
Grade 11 Career spotlight
A grade 11 career spotlight on a water distribution operator who keeps a city's pipes safe and leads its lead service line replacement work, with real pay data.