Discover: Step 3 - Policy and Community Practice Research
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Provided by: Earth Force|Published on: April 27, 2021
Activity - Classroom
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This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Synopsis
- This activity is meant to be an introductory conversation to differentiate between public policies and habits.
- This is designed to be Step 3 in a larger community-action and problem-solving process where students will actively research and interview individuals involved with the issue they are exploring.

Subjects: Civics
Authors: Earth Force
Region: Global
Languages: English
Teaching Materials
Positives
- There are multiple resources given on the website for all of the sections of the activity.
- This activity encourages collaborative conversation.
Prerequisites
- The site contains many resources for helping students understand policies and practices, identify research questions, organize their research and process the information they gather.
- To access the tips cards and other resources mentioned in this activity, teachers can visit the Environmental Action Civics Alliance website.
Differentiation & Implementation
- Teachers can start by reviewing the goals of the activity.
- Help younger students generate research questions and help guide them in the process using the included graphic organizers.
- Depending on the additional activities teachers want to add and amount of research students need to do, this activity can vary greatly in the amount of time it will take. Adjust depending on the scope of research you want students to do.
- If doing the full process, be sure to have students continue to gather their work in a project portfolio for use in the final reflection in the last step.
This video presents the need to dig deep, ask burning questions on environmental policies and community practices in their community, research on the problem using appropriate research methods and finding solutions. In reality, Environmental issues are complex. Using the stakeholder web to model and get a variety of responses will help unpack the complexity for students. This should be followed by a critical evaluation of responses, debriefing key findings.
Teaching Tips
Standards
Resource Type and Format
About the Partner Provider

Earth Force
Earth Force is a national nonprofit with over 30 years of experience partnering with school districts, youth-serving organizations, and educators to evolve student learning through Environmental Applied Civics (EAC). Their expertise is in the elements that make authentic civic engagement work: centering youth voice, building strong youth-adult partnerships, and creating resilient communities.
Scientist Reviewed
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Our review process ensures that every resource in our library reflects the current state of climate science.
Learn about our review process →
