Environmental Justice

Teaching Strategies and Classroom Activities:

Background Information

In Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger, Sze states that “music, websites, films, and graphic novels compose a counterhegemonic soundtrack for a restorative environmental justice politics grounded in solidarity.”⁵⁶ I plan to use a wide range of genres in my lessons. We will begin by becoming familiar with the periodic table of elements and their properties. In one of the lessons, the students will take an element and create a character using the physical and chemical characteristics of the element. For example, if a student has the element helium, their character will be extremely light and flowing in air. After students learn that different elements behave differently, they will be introduced to atoms and molecules, what makes atoms reactive and nonreactive, how and why molecules bond, and understand the fundamental science principal that matter cannot be created nor destroyed. They will engage in various hands on activities and science experiments in order to further understand the content. Once students have this information, they will have a better understanding of matter found in the atmosphere. We will look more in depth at common air pollutants such as particulate matter 2.5, nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), and ozone (O₃).

Activity 1-Redlining Tool

Students will look at the redlining tool, Not Even Past: Social Vulnerability and the Legacy of Redlining. This site juxtaposes the HOLC maps from the 1930s with contemporary health disparities (Figure 2). They will look at Back of the Yards, Little Village, and other neighborhoods and notice the similarities between redlining eighty years ago and health disparities today.⁵⁷ After comparing the data between the HOLC maps and the contemporary maps, they will be able to discuss their findings with the class and their families.

Figure 2: Example of the Not Even Past: Social Vulnerability and Legacy tool for Chicago, IL. ⁵⁸

Activity 2 -EPA Environmental Justice Screening Tool or Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool

Students will use these tools to record data for Back of the Yards, Little Village and two other Chicago neighborhoods of their choice. I have begun to fill particulate matter 2.5 as an example. They will look for trends between air pollution and health concerns such as asthma and low life expectancy. After recording their data, they will be able to discuss their findings with the class.

Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool Student Data Sheet:

Activity 3-Plotting the Six City Study

After a Google Slides presentation of the Six Cities Air Pollution Study, Students will receive Table 1from the six cities study entitled “Characteristics of the Study Population and Mean Air-Pollution Levels in Six Cities” . They will plot the points for the fine particles, nitrogen dioxide particles, and sulfate particles. They will also plot the deaths per 1000 persons or life expectancies in the six cities. After plotting their points and analyzing the graphs, they will be able to discuss their findings with the class.

Activity 4 -Plotting Classroom Air Quality

For 5 weeks, students will take daily air quality data using an air quality detector. The Air Quality Monitor LFF measures particulate matter (PM 2.5), time, temperature, and humidity. They will control for time and use their data to graph the results. After the 5 weeks, students will make interpretations of their data and discuss their findings with the school community.