Grade 7 Lesson plan
Desalination, Reuse, or Leak Repair: A Water Investment Lesson
A grade 7 civics lesson where pairs use real case studies and a fictional state's cost, time, and energy estimates to rank three water investments.
C3 Framework · Grades 6–8
D2.Eco.2.6-8 Weighing solutions to economic issues
Evaluate alternative approaches or solutions to current economic issues in terms of benefits and costs for different groups and society as a whole.
Why water teaches this standard well
A city choosing among repairing leaking pipes, building a desalination plant, recycling wastewater, and paying residents to conserve faces exactly the comparison this indicator calls for. Each alternative distributes costs and benefits differently across ratepayers, farmers, businesses, and rivers.
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.
55 materials aligned to D2.Eco.2.6-8
Lesson plans
Grade 8 Lesson plan
Staffing Aldermist's Recycled Water Program: A Careers Lesson
A 55-minute grade 8 careers lesson where students model a fictional recycled water program's growth with a linear function and decide when a second operator is needed.
Grade 6 Lesson plan
Granthorpe's Choice: Sewer Line or New Septic Tanks?
A grade 6 lesson where students read three stakeholder statements about failing septic systems on a lake, fill a decision matrix, and recommend an option to the board.
Grade 8 Lesson plan
Mapping Dry Wells in Durnley County: Who Gets Help First?
A grade 8 geography lesson in which students map a rural county's failing wells from a data table and advise the county board on where to spend a limited grant.
Grade 6 Lesson plan
Ranking Risks in the Glenmarrow Watershed: A Careers Lesson
A grade 6 careers lesson in which students work as a source water protection specialist, ranking six pollution risks above a reservoir intake and defending one project.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Recovering Phosphorus at Dunwick: A Nutrient Career Lesson
A grade 7 careers lesson on the resource recovery technician at a fictional reclamation facility, with percent-removal math and a benefit-and-cost discussion.
Grade 6 Lesson plan
Who Gets the Water Under Felbrigg County?
A 50-minute grade 6 civics lesson in which students compare two groundwater rules and apply each one to a well dispute between a farm and a town.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Should Cindermere and Nettlefold Share One Sewer Plant?
A 55-minute grade 7 lesson in which two fictional towns weigh building separate sewer plants against one shared plant, then split the cost two ways.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Coldwater Valley's Drought Allocation: Sharing a Shrinking River
A grade 7 social studies lesson using a fictional irrigation district to divide a shrinking river's water between farms and a town during a drought year.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Pennygate's Flooded Street: Buyout, Floodwall, or Lift?
A 50-minute grade 7 civics lesson in which students map a fictional flood-prone street and weigh a buyout, a floodwall, and raising the houses.
Grade 8 Lesson plan
Sharing the Kestrel Flats Aquifer: A Grade 8 Groundwater Board Lesson
A grade 8 geography and civics lesson where students map a shared aquifer under Alder Bluff and its farms, then set pumping limits as a groundwater board.
Grade 8 Lesson plan
PFAS in Deerhurst's Wells: A Grade 8 Local Government Lesson
A grade 8 civics lesson where students role-play a town council deciding how to respond after PFAS is found in the wells, weighing a federal rule still in motion.
Grade 8 Lesson plan
Keeping the Pumps Running: A Maintenance-Technician Careers Lesson
A 45-minute grade 8 careers lesson on the technician who keeps a utility's pumps working, the apprenticeship path, and preventive maintenance versus run-to-failure.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Regulating Runoff on Blackberry Fork: A Nutrient Policy Lesson
A grade 7 lesson using a fictional watershed council to weigh a farm buffer-strip policy against its effect on nutrient runoff, dissolved oxygen, and different groups.
Grade 7 Lesson plan
Hoover Dam and the Colorado River: Who Benefits and Who Pays
A grade 7 lesson using Hoover Dam to examine how one shared-river project distributes costs and benefits across nearby and distant communities in the Southwest.
Grade 8 Lesson plan
Should Sable Point Build a Desalination Plant?
A grade 8 lesson where teams weigh the costs and benefits of a fictional coastal city building a desalination plant, using real capacity and energy figures.
Worksheets
Grade 8 Worksheet
Pipe Age and Main Breaks in Fairholt: A Scatter Plot Study
A grade 8 worksheet in which students plot pipe age against water main breaks for ten neighborhoods, find the outlier, and weigh two pipe replacement strategies.
Grade 6 Worksheet
Northsedge Nutrient Recovery Technician: A Shift Log
A grade 6 careers worksheet where students read a nutrient recovery technician's shift log, finding phosphorus removal percents, a production rate, and a permit check.
Grade 6 Worksheet
Is Lindmoor's Water Bill Affordable? A Percent Worksheet
A grade 6 economics worksheet where students find three fictional families' water bills as a percent of income and test each against a 4.5 percent high-burden guideline.
Grade 7 Worksheet
Quarry Bend's Aging Pipes: A Percent and Priorities Worksheet
A grade 7 worksheet on a fictional water district's aging pipe network, using percent and cost calculations to plan which pipes to replace first.
Grade 8 Worksheet
Who Can Afford the Water Bill in Selby Junction?
A grade 8 economics worksheet where students figure each household's water bill as a percent of income and compare it to the 4.5 percent high-burden mark.
Grade 8 Worksheet
Wrenfield's Retiring Operators: A Grade 8 Water Workforce Worksheet
A grade 8 economics worksheet using real pay and workforce data to plan for a wave of water-operator retirements at a fictional utility, then weigh its options.
Grade 6 Worksheet
Barrow County's Nutrient Trading Plan: Comparing Two Costs
A grade 6 worksheet comparing the cost of paying farmers for buffer strips against upgrading a treatment plant to meet a fictional county's nitrogen target.
Grade 7 Worksheet
The Twin Rivers Compact: Allocating Water in Acre-Feet
A grade 7 worksheet using a fictional two-state river compact to practice acre-foot conversions and multistep percent problems tied to interstate water allocation.
Grade 8 Worksheet
Prioritizing Lead Service Line Replacement in Cassidy Heights
A grade 8 worksheet where students use a weighted scoring formula and a fixed budget to decide which of four fictional neighborhoods gets lead pipe replacement first.
Grade 8 Worksheet
Flat Rate or Tiered Pricing: Water Billing in Pemberton Falls
A grade 8 worksheet in which students calculate water bills for four households under flat and tiered rate structures and evaluate affordability against a 4.5% guideline.
Classroom activities
Grade 6 Classroom activity
Coldharrow Dam Release Meeting: A Water Careers Role-Play
A grade 6 careers role-play in which five water-sector professionals divide a summer reservoir release, with percent-share math and a keyed decision handout.
Grade 7 Classroom activity
Wexholt's Barrier Test: A Membrane Technician Activity
A grade 7 careers activity in which teams test three barriers against a mixed sample, then build the flow diagram a membrane plant technician monitors.
Grade 7 Classroom activity
The Sandhill Aquifer Table: A Shared Groundwater Role-Play
A grade 7 role-play where students act as stakeholders sharing one fictional aquifer and negotiate pumping limits before the groundwater runs too low.
Grade 8 Classroom activity
Fenmore Valley's Water Budget: A Grade 8 Board Simulation
A grade 8 civics simulation where student boards split a fixed water-district budget across competing projects and defend the tradeoffs they choose.
Grade 6 Classroom activity
Sharing the Amsel River: A Water Allocation Negotiation Game
A grade 6 role-play activity where three groups negotiate how to divide a river's flow between farms, a city, and required environmental flow across a drought season.
Reading passages
Grade 7 Reading passage
How Hollybank Turned a Parking Lot Into a Marsh
An original grade 7 passage about a fictional town that replaced a downtown parking lot with a constructed wetland, and the close council vote behind it.
Writing prompts
Grade 6 Writing prompt
Rain Gardens or Bigger Pipes for Marrowfield?
A grade 6 argument writing prompt where students advise a fictional town council to fix flooding with rain gardens or bigger storm pipes, using claim and evidence.
Grade 6 Writing prompt
Should Tidwell Pay Homeowners to Replace Their Lawns?
Grade 6 argument writing on a fictional town's lawn rebate program, with background data, a claim-and-evidence organizer, a full exemplar essay, and a four-level rubric.
Grade 6 Writing prompt
Should Dune Harbor Build a Desalination Plant? A Grade 6 Argument
A grade 6 argument writing prompt where students take a position on whether a fictional drought-stricken coastal town should build a reverse-osmosis desalination plant.
Grade 8 Writing prompt
Funding Pipe Replacement in Hartwell: A Grade 8 Writing Prompt
A grade 8 argument prompt where students decide how a town should pay to replace aging water pipes, using real national infrastructure and affordability data as evidence.
Debate kits
Grade 6 Debate kit
Wrendale's One New Job: A Water Careers Debate Kit
A grade 6 debate kit on whether a water district should hire a conservation coordinator or a third pipe repair worker, with two-sided evidence and role notes.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Should Hollingate Train Its Own Water Operators?
A grade 7 debate kit on whether a fictional water district should fund a paid operator apprenticeship or keep hiring only already-licensed operators.
Grade 6 Debate kit
Should Claybourne Sell Its Water System to a Company?
A grade 6 debate kit on whether a town should sell its water utility to a private company, with a two-sided evidence file, roles, a council vote, and a rubric.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Should Combermere Sell Water to the Blackthorn Data Center?
A two-session grade 7 debate on whether a fictional town should sign a 20-year water contract with a data center, with two-sided evidence, roles, and a rubric.
Grade 8 Debate kit
Should Highmoor County Permit a Water Bottling Plant?
A two-session grade 8 debate kit on a groundwater withdrawal permit, with two-sided evidence, board roles, and a rubric for the county hearing students stage.
Grade 6 Debate kit
Should Fendalton Put a Meter on Every Home?
A grade 6 debate kit on whether a fictional town should switch from a flat water fee to metered billing, with two-sided evidence on fairness, cost, and conservation.
Grade 6 Debate kit
Should Silverbrook Charge a Stormwater Fee by Hard Surface?
A two-session grade 6 debate kit on whether a fictional city should bill each property for storm drains by roof and pavement area, with two-sided evidence.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Should Rivermont Sell Its Water System? A Grade 7 Debate
A grade 7 debate kit on whether a fictional town should sell its public water system to a private company, with two-sided evidence on repairs, rates, and control.
Grade 8 Debate kit
Should Rundle Put Smart Water Meters in Every Home?
A grade 8 debate kit on whether a town should install hourly-reporting smart water meters, with two-sided evidence on cost, leaks, privacy, and conservation.
Grade 7 Debate kit
Toilet to Tap? A Grade 7 Debate on Water Recycling
A grade 7 debate kit on whether a fictional coastal town should build a water-recycling plant instead of a new reservoir, with evidence for both sides.
Grade 8 Debate kit
Should Fernvale County Require Farms to Limit Fertilizer Runoff?
A grade 8 debate kit weighing mandatory farm runoff limits against voluntary conservation, using real water-quality benchmarks and two-sided fictional evidence.
Projects
Grade 6 Project
Kirkhaven Is Hiring: A Grade 6 Water Job Posting Project
A four-session grade 6 project in which teams research one water utility job, write a posting and a 90-day training plan, and argue for it before a district board.
Grade 7 Project
Staffing Drenwick Valley's New Water Reuse Plant
A four-session grade 7 project in which teams build a staffing packet for a fictional water reuse plant, covering six positions, every hour, and every credential.
Grade 6 Project
Emberdale's Capital Plan: Four Projects, One Budget
A four-session grade 6 project where teams fund part of a town's water repair list within a fixed budget and defend the plan to a council panel with evidence.
Grade 8 Project
Rebuild or Buy Out? A Floodplain Plan for Grantly
A five-session grade 8 project in which students use land cover data and a fixed grant to build a flood plan for 18 homes and defend it to a village board panel.
Career spotlights
Grade 6 Career spotlight
Designing a Membrane Plant: A Water Engineer Profile
A grade 6 career profile of an environmental engineer who designs a reverse-osmosis membrane addition to a drinking-water plant, covering the degree and license path.
Grade 6 Career spotlight
Fenhollow Stormwater Technician: Inspecting Green Infrastructure
A grade 6 career spotlight on a stormwater technician who inspects rain gardens and storm drains, with the training path and cost comparison questions.
Grade 7 Career spotlight
The Technician Who Runs Halvergate's PFAS Filters
A grade 7 spotlight on a treatment technician who operates carbon filter vessels for PFAS in the town of Halvergate, with percent-removal questions and a licensing path.
Grade 6 Career spotlight
Wastewater Treatment Operator: Duties, Licensing, and Pay
A grade 6 career profile of a wastewater treatment operator's daily tasks and licensing path, using real pay, openings, and workforce-retirement figures.