Earthforce Community Action and Problem-Solving Process

Overview

• Combines action civics, project-based learning, and STEM education.
• Provides materials and professional development workshops.
• Utilizes Educators Guide, Tips Cards, and Resources website.
• Follows national standards such as NGSS, C3, and 21st-century skills.
• More information available at earthforceresources.org.

Step 1: Foundation of Earthforce

Defining Community

• Begin by defining the community where the project will take place.
  • Can be based on geography (e.g., schoolyard, city) or social aspects (e.g., community organizations).
  • Choose a manageable definition, considering accessibility, data, and curricular ties.
  • Suggestion for beginners: use a narrower geographic definition like a schoolyard.

Conducting Inventories

• Key to understanding the community and selecting a topic.
• Conduct at least three types of inventories:
  • Numbers-based: Gathers numerical data (e.g., measuring water quality, analyzing maps).
  • Descriptive: Gathers qualitative data (e.g., expert interviews, surveys).
  • Student-chosen: Encourages student involvement.

Analyzing Inventories

• Analyze inventories to identify community strengths and concerns.
  • Environmental Concerns: Issues arising from people's interaction with nature.
  • Strengths: Environmentally positive aspects (people, organizations, features).
• Organize findings into a list of strengths and concerns.
  • Distinguish between concerns and project ideas.

Documenting and Analyzing Root Causes

• Document findings in a student work portfolio.
• Conduct a root cause analysis to distinguish between root causes and effects.
  • Ensure concerns are local and manageable.
  • Tools available on the Step 1 Resources page at earthforceresources.org.

Completion of Step 1

• Community definition established.
• Completion of multiple inventories, including descriptive and numbers-based.
• Compilation of a list of strengths and concerns.
• Identification of root causes within the community.
• Creation of a student work portfolio.

Next Steps

• Proceed to Step 2: Issue Selection.