This lesson explores ways in which students can address environmental injustice. 

Step 1 - Inquire: Students review information from previous lessons and discuss the guiding questions: "How could putting more green spaces into low-income communities help?" and "How would this be an example of environmental justice?"

Step 2 - Investigate: In groups, students compare the two cities of Compton and Pasadena, California. Students discuss income levels, demographics, tree cover, and air pollution.

Step 3 - Inspire: Students watch a video on young climate activists. Then students choose one of three options: learn about Greta Thunberg, create a climate protest sign, or research the 2019 Youth Climate Summit.

Positives

• This lesson directly shows the relationships among race, income, tree cover, and air pollution.
• It is very powerful when students compare the maps of Compton and Pasadena and begin to connect the dots.

Additional Prerequisites

• This is lesson 5 of 6 in our 3rd-5th grade Green Spaces unit.
• You will use two maps of Los Angeles during the Investigate phase of the lesson. The best move would probably be to print the maps beforehand. The lesson also calls for plastic sheet protectors and dry erase markers so students can compare the maps. If you do not have these materials or access to a printer, students can compare the two maps on a device.
• To learn more about youth climate activists, students can research groups like Zero Hour, Fridays for Future, or the Sunrise Movement.

Differentiation

• Depending on the needs of your students, it may be best to compare the two maps of Los Angeles as an entire class.
• Higher-level students can compare maps in another lesson designed for 6th-8th graders called Redlining & Environmental Racism.

This lesson provides basic knowledge on how trees sink CO₂ and give off O₂. Trees are one of the key solutions to drawdown of CO₂, and students learn how to interpret and analyze tree maps in relation to environmental justice and the right action to green their environment. This lesson, including additional links, is properly cited. In this light, we recommend this lesson for classroom use.

This resource addresses the listed standards. To fully meet standards, search for more related resources.

Supporting Standards

• English Language Arts
  • Reading: Informational Text (K-12)
    • RI.5.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at grade level text complexity or above, with scaffolding as needed.
  • Speaking & Listening (K-12)
    • SL.4.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 4 topics and texts, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• Science
  • ETS1: Engineering Design
    • 3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.