ARIZONA ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY

History and Environmental Education /

Lauren Coleman and Luis Maya

Compelling Question
How can legislation impact our local environments?
Introduction/Overview of Experience
Arizona faces many environmental challenges. Between drought, heat, air quality,

and conservation issues, drastic improvements must be made in order to keep Arizona

livable. State and Federal bills have been introduced and passed to address the situation,

but there is still much more work to be done. With this interdisciplinary project combining

U.S. Government and Environmental Education, students will be able to take the reins of

the Arizona State Legislature and introduce their own environmental legislation. Combining

the two content areas allows students to become well versed in the Arizona lawmaking

process as well as environmental issues facing the state. Following the end of the project,

students will have directly experienced the effect that state legislation can have on the

environment, answering the compelling question above.

For this project, students will temporarily become Arizona State Legislators. After

being placed into groups of five, students will find a real environmental issue currently

affecting the state. Once an issue has been found, groups will research their topic and

begin to write a bill proposal that attempts to solve it. With their bill now completed,

groups will create a well researched, organized, and factual presentation in support of their

bill. Each group will present their presentation to the class while everyone else writes notes

on the effectiveness of their bill. Following the presentation, presenting students will

conduct a Q&A, in which they will be expected to properly defend their proposal.

Standards (include ELA and Content)

HS.C4.6 Assess options for action to address local, regional, and global problems by

engaging in self- reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.

HS.SP4.3 Integrate evidence from multiple relevant sources and interpretations into a

reasoned argument.

HS.G2.2 Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced

cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions.

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HS.C2.1 Explain the importance of individual participation in civic and political institutions.

11-12.SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence in an organized,

developed style appropriate to purpose, audience, and task, allowing listeners to follow the

speaker's line of reasoning, message, and any alternative perspectives.

Learning Outcomes
Day 1: SWBAT assess options for action to address Arizona’s environmental problems by
engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.

Day 2: SWBAT evaluate how political and economic decisions by Arizona legislators have
influenced cultural and environmental characteristics within the state.

Day 3: SWBAT integrate evidence from multiple relevant sources and interpretations into a
reasoned legislative bill.

Day 4: SWBAT explain the importance of individual participation in Arizona’s civic and
political institutions.

Day 5: SWBAT present their proposed bill in an organized, developed style appropriate to a
state legislative session, allowing peers to follow the speaker’s line of reasoning and
message.

Evidence of Mastery

Bills address Arizona’s environmental problems.

Students were actively engaged in the research, writing, and presentation processes.

Bills are supported by ample and credible evidence.

Bills analyze effectiveness of previous legislation (when applicable).

Bills propose reasonably implementable solutions.

Texts/Text Types

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What Are Environmental Laws?

US Environmental Laws Through the Decades

Guide to environmental laws in the United States

How an Arizona Bill Becomes Law

State Legislature Bills in Consideration

ADEQ Report of 2017 State Environmental Bills

AZ Department of Environmental Quality

Arizona Drought Article

Pollinator Conservation Projects

Green roof in Tempe

Biosphere 2 Podcast: Hidden Water

Tempe Public Art

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 Lesson One: Ask A Compelling
Question

Inquiry Question:

- How can legislation impact our local environments?

Directions:

Hook

Teacher will present the following task to students: “Draw/write a description of what

comes to mind when you think of your local environment”

- Give students three minutes to complete the task on a sheet of paper.

- Once three minutes have passed, teacher will have students share their

drawing/description with their table group

- Look for answers relating to schools, neighborhoods, desert, city, home, etc…

Once students have shared their thoughts, teacher will show a five minute video further

explaining what an environment is, accompanied by the definition of the word

- Using information gathered from the video and definition, students will be

given five minutes to discuss the following questions within their table group:

- What is an environment?

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 - How do the definitions from the video and the dictionary relate to the

environment that you drew or described?

- What issues do you see in your local environment that need to be

solved?

- Students will individually post their responses to Padlet during

the group discussion

- Look for answers relating to water, heat, animals, population,

etc…

Activity

Teacher will have students brainstorm for five minutes with their table group regarding

how to solve Arizona’s environmental problems

- While brainstorming, students will share their group’s ideas on the class Padlet

- Look for answers such as “vote,” “volunteer,” “petition,” “protest,” “propose

legislation,” “call representatives,” and “write letters to representatives.”

Table groups will then be given ten minutes to create their own Padlet and sort the class

responses into groups

- Class responses from both questions will need to be sorted

- Students will have total control in how they choose to group the responses

- Once groups are done, they will share their Padlet link in the class Padlet

- Students will then have five minutes to look at each group’s Padlet and see how they

organized the responses

Closing

- Teacher will give students an opportunity to share any questions they might have.

- Students will individually fill out a Google Form as their exit ticket prior to leaving

class

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 Lesson Two: Analyze Sources

Hook

Activity

Instruction/Activity

Lesson Three: Creatively Synthesize

Claims and Evidence

Lesson Four : Critically Evaluate and

Revise
Comparing Texts and Peers

Lesson Five : Share, Publish, Act

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