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WorksheetsFinding the Root Cause- civics
Total questions: 40
Worksheet time: 40mins
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A student fails most of their classes because they don’t do their homework or study for tests.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A student fails most of their classes because their school doesn’t have enough teachers, and classes are overcrowded.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A family struggles to afford groceries because one parent recently lost their job due to company layoffs.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A person gets a speeding ticket after ignoring a stop sign and driving too fast.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A neighborhood has poor air quality because factories nearby release pollution every day.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A student can’t complete homework because they don’t have internet or a computer at home.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A student doesn’t complete homework because they spend all night on social media.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
Many families can’t find an affordable place to live because housing prices have skyrocketed across the city.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A person gets sick often because they refuse to wash their hands or wear a coat in cold weather.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A community’s health clinic closes, leaving people without nearby medical care.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A worker loses their job for showing up late multiple times.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A worker loses their job because the company moved all positions overseas to save money.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A student is late to school every day because they choose to sleep in.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
A student is late to school every day because the public bus route was cut and they have no other way to get there.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each scenario carefully. Then decide:
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause – Caused mostly by a person’s decisions or behavior.
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause – Caused mostly by how systems, policies, or institutions are set up.
People in a city are getting sick from drinking water contaminated by lead pipes that haven’t been replaced in decades.
🧍♀️ Individual Root Cause
🏛️ Systemic Root Cause
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
A rural town doesn’t have enough clean drinking water because nearby farms use chemicals that leak into the groundwater.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
Many stores in the downtown area have closed, and people are losing jobs because fewer customers shop locally.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
Students in one district have newer books and more teachers than students in another district nearby.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
A local clinic had to close because there weren’t enough doctors willing to work in the area, leaving families without care.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
In one city, rent prices have doubled in just a few years, and more people are becoming homeless.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
People in certain neighborhoods are stopped and searched by police more often than others.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
The playground equipment in the neighborhood park is broken and unsafe for children to use.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
Ambulances and firefighters have a hard time reaching emergencies because traffic is always backed up.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
There has been a rise in theft and vandalism in the downtown area, and police say there aren’t enough patrol officers.
(a)
Read each situation. Then choose the system most connected to the root cause.
Choices:
🧑🌾 Agriculture
💼 Business & Commerce
🎓 Education
🏥 Health & Human Services
🏘️ Housing & City Planning
⚖️ Law & Justice
🌳 Parks & Recreation
🚓 Public Safety
🚌 Transportation
Farmers are struggling to grow enough food because of a long drought and poor irrigation systems.
(a)
Many people in a community can’t find jobs that pay enough to cover housing, food, and healthcare.
a. There is a lack of job opportunities.
b. There is not enough education.
c. There is too much traffic.
d. Job training needs to be better in quality.
e. Income is unequal
Students in some schools have brand new computers and books, while others have very old materials.
a. There is a lack of teachers.
b. There is not enough funding for schools.
c. There is too much testing.
d. School materials need to be better in quality.
e. Resources are unequal.
The local river is polluted, and fish are dying.
a. There is a lack of pollution control.
b. There is not enough enforcement of environmental laws.
c. There is too much waste being dumped.
d. Water treatment needs to be better in quality.
e. Access to clean water is unequal.
Many people in a city can’t afford rent because housing prices keep rising.
a. There is a lack of affordable housing.
b. There is not enough space in cities.
c. There are too many luxury apartments being built.
d. Construction needs to be better in quality.
e. Housing opportunities are unequal.
Some neighborhoods don’t have grocery stores with fresh food, while others have several.
a. There is a lack of grocery stores in certain areas.
b. There is not enough healthy food available.
c. There are too many fast-food restaurants.
d. Food delivery needs to be better in quality.
e. Access to fresh food is unequal.
Children in a rural area must travel a long distance to see a doctor.
a. There is a lack of medical clinics nearby.
b. There is not enough public transportation.
c. There are too many people for the number of doctors.
d. Healthcare needs to be better in quality.
e. Access to healthcare is unequall
Many students drop out of high school before graduating.
a. There is a lack of support for struggling students.
b. There is not enough motivation to stay in school.
c. There is too much pressure from testing.
d. Teaching needs to be better in quality.
e. Educational opportunities are unequal.
Crime rates have gone up in a city where unemployment is high.
a. There is a lack of job opportunities.
b. There is not enough community policing.
c. There is too much poverty.
d. Safety programs need to be better in quality.
e. Justice is unequal.
Many elderly people feel isolated and lonely.
a. There is a lack of social activities for seniors.
b. There is not enough family support.
c. There is too much dependence on technology.
d. Senior care needs to be better in quality.
e. Social inclusion is unequal.
Some students can’t attend college because it’s too expensive.
a. There is a lack of scholarships.
b. There is not enough financial aid.
c. There are too many fees added to tuition.
d. College education needs to be better in quality.
e. Access to higher education is unequal.
Public transportation breaks down often and runs late.
a. There is a lack of maintenance.
b. There is not enough funding for transportation.
c. There are too many old buses still in use.
d. Transportation systems need to be better in quality.
e. Access to reliable transportation is unequal.
The local park has broken playground equipment and trash everywhere.
a. There is a lack of park maintenance.
b. There is not enough community involvement.
c. There is too much littering.
d. City upkeep needs to be better in quality.
e. Public spaces are unequal.
Some groups of people earn less money even when they have the same qualifications as others.
a. There is a lack of fair hiring practices.
b. There is not enough pay transparency.
c. There is too much workplace discrimination.
d. Job evaluations need to be better in quality.
e. Pay is unequal.
A large number of people in a community are sick because they can’t afford medicine.
a. There is a lack of affordable healthcare.
b. There is not enough access to pharmacies.
c. There are too many high-priced drugs.
d. Healthcare services need to be better in quality.
e. Access to medicine is unequal.
Some people can’t vote because they don’t have transportation to polling places.
a. There is a lack of nearby polling locations.
b. There is not enough access to transportation.
c. There are too many complicated voting steps.
d. Voting systems need to be better in quality.
e. Voting access is unequal.
