Tackling Climate Change through Environmental Justice

From our Introduction to Environmental Justice curriculum:

Click here for the Welcome & Content Overview.

Introduction to Environmental Justice: Grades K–3

This lesson creates a foundation for elementary school students to begin understanding the topic of environmental justice (EJ). Through a social-emotional learning lens, students will investigate how racism impacts people on an interpersonal and systemic level. They will learn a few details about the history of racism in the United States and how people of color are disproportionately impacted by environmental problems. Then, using a flashcard activity, students will practice thinking critically about environmental justice by identifying just/unjust scenarios. Finally, students learn about activists who have addressed environmental justice problems in their communities and begin exploring how they could be EJ heroes, too.

Introduction to Environmental Justice: Grades 4–8

This lesson creates a foundation for students to understand the topic of environmental justice (EJ). It begins with a challenge that illustrates the impact of an unequitable distribution of resources. Student groups are assigned supervisors who, unbeknownst to students, have varying strategies and levels of access to materials, which gives certain groups an advantage in building a structure over others. This eye-opening exercise leads to rich dialogue about inequality and environmental racism. Students also take a look at events and leaders that helped form the EJ movement. In the final session, students discuss how broadening one’s perspective and using empathy and compassion can help address the damage of systemic racism. Students learn about remarkable EJ Heroes and then conduct research to learn more about local EJ issues and heroes

Introduction to Environmental Justice: Grades 9–12

This lesson creates a foundation for high school students to understand the topic of environmental justice (EJ). Session 1 begins with a challenge that illustrates the impact of an unequitable distribution of resources. This dynamic, eye-opening exercise leads to rich dialogue about inequality and environmental racism in the world today. In Session 2, students watch a video that introduces the concept of environmental justice, and then they explore how perspective, compassion, and empathy can help address systemic inequalities and injustices. Next, students conduct a web quest to research key environmental justice topics and then share what they have learned with their classmates. In Session 3, after learning about pivotal events in EJ history and about the leaders who helped form the EJ movement, students conduct research to learn more about local EJ issues and heroes. In the final session, students participate in a simulation of a town hall meeting in which they play the roles of various stakeholders faced with real-world environmental justice issues.