Carolina High School & Academy
Teacher: Lauren Whitaker
Course: Environmental Studies
Grade: 11-12
Driving Question:
How can we transform urban wastelands into beneficial spaces for our community?
Project Snapshot
Partnering with the City of Greenville, students learned about population growth, urbanization, water quality, soil quality, environmental regulation, and pollution within the context of analyzing potential brownfield sites within our city. Students then had the opportunity to present their findings to the general public and other stakeholders at a community lunch and learn hosted by the City of Greenville.
Student Products
- Persuasive essay on human population growth
- Soil analysis lab report
- Brownfield visual and historical analysis
- Interactive lesson plan with resources for community members
- Presentation for panel of local experts
Teacher Reflection
Students truly found relevance during their experiences with this project! They were emotionally hooked by the environmental justice issue of Brownfields overwhelming the low-income communities surrounding our school and how this relates to poverty.
I saw a great deal of growth in my students’ personal agency while learning the content and think that the project provided students with the opportunity to use their understanding of environmental science to investigate and advocate for a real environmental issue in our community.
Student Reflections
“This was the best project I have ever experienced and I wish it wasn’t over, I feel like I learned a lot about brownfields and can now share this with others.”
“Before starting this project I didn’t really care but now I do, I want to help improve our community by redeveloping brownfields.”
Teachers at New Tech Network can view the full project in Echo using the Community Tool. Search the Community using this code:
BZ349328236_5edc46a215af4b7393afe3193fe1cc13
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