Connecticut Environmental Justice Screening Tool
Provided by: Univeristy of Connecticut|Published on: May 24, 2024
Grades: 9, 10, 11, 12
Type: Lesson Plans
Subjects: Civics, History
Authors: Alexis Torres, Dr. Yaprak Onat, Dr. Mary Buchanan
Region: North America, USA - Northeast, USA - West, USA - South, United States, Connecticut, California, North Carolina
Languages: English
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This resource is a set of four high school lesson plans about environmental justice and environmental racism in Connecticut.
- Students learn about the topics through various activities such as completing graphic organizers, listening to a podcast, analyzing data, watching videos, exploring the Connecticut Environmental Justice Screening Tool, discussing with peers, and answering exit tickets.
- Students will hear important stories of environmental injustice, including sewage overflow in the North End of Hartford, disproportionate public health issues in Bridgeport, toxic waste sites in Hispanic communities in Los Angeles, California, and chemical exposure to Black communities in Ashton, North Carolina.
Teaching Materials
Positives
- Students learn about social justice issues in their community, inspiring them to work towards a solution.
- The lesson plans are easy for teachers to implement in the classroom with all materials provided and very minimal prep work.
Additional Prerequisites
- Each lesson will take approximately 1 hour to complete.
- The lesson plan provides student handouts and teacher handouts as PDFs.
- Students should understand the concepts of discrimination, forms of racism, and discriminatory practices.
- These lessons discuss sensitive topics, and teachers should ensure a safe and equitable environment to support students in this learning. The lesson plan includes some suggestions for how to do this.
- The podcast has a short advertisement starting at 19:32 that you may not be able to skip.
- Teachers showing the video may want to skip the first 2 minutes, as this is primarily the speaker introducing the features of the video meeting program and will not be relevant to students.
- The Spanish version of the interactive map seems to be unavailable.
Differentiation
- The lesson plan includes additional videos and activities that teachers can incorporate to expand student learning.
- The provided sentence stems help students share their opinions constructively and considerately. This support can encourage English language learners to have their voices heard in the conversation.
- Teachers should consider adding space for students to reflect on the emotions this lesson causes them. Students can do this through individual journaling and sharing with partners or small groups.
- Civics classes can use this resource to learn about injustice, discrimination, and racism in policymaking and governance.
- History classes can use this resource to learn about the continued impacts of historically racist practices such as redlining.
- Geography classes can make cross-curricular connections through reading and interpreting the maps.
This resource allows students to learn what environmental justice and environmental racism entail and what communities are doing to protect their environment. We reviewed the resource thoroughly. It has passed our science credibility process.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
