SESI Workshop: Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice
This workshop is designed to help students understand the impact of research and technology on social ethics and legal practices in situations such as the design of new buildings, recycling, or emission standards.
*Teacher Lesson Plan can be found at the bottom of this page*
**Links work best when signed into a Google Account. Student worksheets are forced copied so students can work directly on the respective Google Documents**
Test Your Knowledge!
Take the Pre-Quiz by clicking on the link:
*Students from Cathedra, Del Valle or Horizon HS use the correct link for your school*
An Introduction to Environmental Justice
Watch this video to gain a better understanding of what environmental justice is.
1- Environmental Justice Presentaion.mp4Environmental Justice - A look at the Border Region
Follow along this pre-recorded presentation to learn about local environmental issues and community members/activists who are working on addressing those problems.
This video includes the instructions for each of the student activities.
At min 3:06 in the pre-recorded presentation, it is suggested that students learn about Fair Housing (video is embedded and suggested to skip to/start at min 4:30).
Students should use the Environmental Justice - Engagement and Video Notes Handout while watching the community member interviews. (click on the link)
Show what you've learned!
The pre-recorded video (above) discusses the instructions for the student activity. It is recommended that the students have the video open when completing the activity for guidance.
Students will explore and compare population and demographic variables to environmental hazards using EJSCREEN (https://ejscreen.epa.gov/mapper). This will give students a better understanding of which communities in El Paso are more vulnerable and affected by environmental justice/injustice. Students can work individually or groups can be assigned to each neighborhood included in the activity.
Elaborate your knowledge!
Students are encouraged to expand on their understanding of environmental injustice by finding and researching a community or neighborhood in El Paso that experiences environmental injustice. Students should fill out the handout linked below. Teachers should then lead a discussion with students, having them compare their findings and their ideas for solutions.
Conclusion/Review
After completing this workshop, students will be able to identify environmental justice issues. Students will also be better equipped on how to to utilize census data and mapping technology to depict sources of pollution in nearby neighborhoods. Students will gain a better understanding of local communities that may be more vulnerable to environmental injustice and will be challenged with the task of thinking of solutions to these issues.
Retest Your Knowledge!
Take the Post-Quiz by clicking on the link:
*Students from Cathedral, Del Valle or Horizon HS use the correct link for your school*
Teacher Corner
Workshop Lesson Plan, TEKS and Instructions can be found here:
For guest speaker opportunities contact Jennifer Ramos-Chavez,
Insights Environmental Education Coordinator: jennifer@insightselpaso.org
This workshop was produced thanks to funding provided by EPA grant #NE-01F54901-0.
Thanks to the The Green Hope Project for their contribution to the development of this workshop.