Enhancing environmental science education in middle schools and high schools in a neighborhood facing environmental injustice

Abstract:

This project aims to increase the environmental literacy of the middle school and high school students, as well as the public, in Atlanta, Georgia and beyond by providing unique active-learning modules and phone applications, on topics related to the environment, including air quality and soil contamination. Emory University, together in partnership with the Science ATL Chief Science Officers Program, Historic Westside Gardens, ATL and the Center for Sustainable Community, is working to create educational active-learning modules, especially targeting urban West Atlanta neighborhoods with large minority populations. Emory and Historic Westside Gardens team recently found soil lead contamination in the neighborhood, which triggered the EPA Superfund Site Investigation. These modules have the potential to be led by undergraduate and graduate students, in person, but will be first tested virtually on the website with phone applications to enhance greater involvement during COVID.

For air quality management, the curriculum will include building low-cost monitoring sensors in schools and community gardens, to create a wide network in the state of Georgia. The sensors can be put together by the students and the residents of Georgia and the data will be available on the website and via phone application, to encourage participation. For remediating soil heavy metal contamination, we will collect soil samples at school campuses, residents’ backyards, and community gardens to test heavy metal concentration levels. All the data will be analyzed by the students and the public during the interactive virtual programs. Some data will be available on the website and on a phone application we plan to build.