STEM Issues

During this week, we were assigned to research a random topic regarding issues in STEM. Of all of the topics, the one that interested me the most was community-based STEM projects. Recently in my classes, my students have been looking at concervation and global warming. Specifically, the students have been looking at the personal or  "grassroots" impacts that a decreasing biodiversity or climate change can have on one's life. Using community-based educational opportunities for my students in these scenarios would be incredibly useful to the area, and would build empathy with students and, ideally, their parents. I have found that there are still a number of students and their parents that push  back against a number of environmental issues. However, when I change question from "how does this impact the planet?" to "How would you feel if this was happening in your back yard?" the conversation shifts. To that end, if I were able to get kids and parents involved in ways that could build awareness that a lot of this stuff IS happening in their backyard, it could drive a number of points home. I also think the idea of using a combination of education and service could be so useful in countless ways that really speak for themselves. Students could address food deserts in neighborhoods by helping start community gardens or could clean up the wetlands down by Port Covington, which would build a sense of belonging and pride in their communities.