Step 1: Community Environmental Inventories

Summary

The video introduces Earthforce, a community-focused program that integrates action civics, project-based learning, and STEM education. Step 1 of the process emphasizes defining a community, investigating its dynamics, and identifying root causes of environmental concerns. Participants are guided to conduct multiple inventories—numbers-based, descriptive, and student-chosen—to assess community strengths and concerns. The program encourages documenting findings in a student portfolio and analyzing whether concerns are root causes or effects. By focusing on local, manageable issues, Earthforce ensures that civic action projects are meaningful and sustainable, preparing students to take informed environmental action in their communities.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Earthforce combines action civics, project-based learning, and STEM education to guide youth in community problem-solving.
• 📚 The program offers materials, educator guides, tips cards, and professional development workshops to support the learning process.
• 🏘️ Step 1 focuses on defining the community, investigating it, and identifying root causes of environmental concerns.
• 🔎 Communities can be defined geographically (e.g., schoolyard, city) or socially (e.g., membership in organizations) to keep the project manageable.
• 📝 Conducting multiple inventories—numbers-based, descriptive, and student-chosen—provides comprehensive information about the community.
• 💧 Numbers-based inventories include data like water quality measurements or map analysis, while descriptive inventories include surveys or expert interviews.
• ⚖️ After gathering data, students analyze it to identify community strengths (environmentally positive features) and concerns (problems from human-environment interaction).
• 📂 Students should document and categorize their findings into a portfolio, focusing on concerns rather than pre-defined project ideas.
• 🌱 Root cause analysis ensures that concerns are addressed meaningfully and sustainably, keeping solutions relevant to the defined community.
• ✅ Successful completion of Step 1 means students have defined their community, conducted multiple inventories, identified strengths and concerns, analyzed root causes, and compiled their work into a portfolio, preparing them for Step 2: issue selection.

Q & A

What is Earthforce and what educational approaches does it combine?

Earthforce is a community action and problem-solving program that combines action civics, project-based learning, and STEM education to engage youth in addressing environmental issues.

What resources does Earthforce provide to educators to guide the process?

Earthforce provides a suite of materials including an educator's guide, tip cards, resources on their website, and professional development workshops to help navigate the program.

What is the first step in the Earthforce process?

Step 1 is establishing the foundation by defining the community, investigating it, and determining the root causes of concerns, which sets the stage for choosing an environmental issue for a civic action project.

How can a community be defined in Earthforce projects?

Communities can be defined geographically, such as a schoolyard or city, or socially, such as membership in community organizations. The definition should be manageable and accessible for participants.

What are inventories in the Earthforce process and why are they important?

Inventories are methods of gathering information about the community. They help identify strengths and concerns and provide the data needed to make well-informed decisions for environmental projects.

What types of inventories are recommended in Step 1?

Earthforce recommends conducting at least three inventories: one numbers-based (e.g., measuring water quality), one descriptive (e.g., surveys or expert interviews), and one chosen by students.

How should students document their findings from inventories?

Students should organize their findings into a list of strengths and concerns, documenting all information in a student work portfolio to reflect on and support later project development.

What is the difference between a concern and a project in this context?

A concern is an underlying environmental problem, such as trash piling up or plastics in a river, while a project is a proposed solution or action to address that concern.

Why is identifying root causes important in Earthforce?

Identifying root causes ensures that projects address the underlying issues rather than surface-level effects, making solutions more meaningful and sustainable.

How do educators know if Step 1 has been successfully completed?

Step 1 is complete when the community is defined, multiple inventories have been conducted (including descriptive and numbers-based), strengths and concerns are listed, root causes are identified, and students have created a portfolio documenting their work.

What are some examples of strengths and concerns in a community?

Strengths might include environmentally positive features like local organizations or natural areas, while concerns could include flooding, pollution, or lack of green space—issues that directly affect the community.

Where can educators find additional tools for conducting root cause analysis?

Educators can find a series of tools for root cause discussions on the Step 1 resources page at EarthforceResources.org.