Our Town: High school curriculum and teacher education about Brownfield remediation  Our Town is an interdisciplinary high school curriculum focused on Brownfield remediation and educates students through a process of identifying specific economic redevelopment. (Brownfields are abandoned or contaminated urban sites.) The program lea Brownfield sites in their communities and studying their redevelopment potential.

After researching a site’s hydrology, pollutants and clean-up options, students develop an economic redevelopment plan that is presented to local leaders. Activities include soil and water testing; GIS mapping; and intensive research and data analysis of historical documents, scientific databases, and public records. The program builds literacy, scientific knowledge, and communication skills through efforts to revitalize local Brownfield sites. The curriculum can be used in science and social studies courses.

Funded by the US EPA, the program is developed by the Department of Engineering Education at Purdue University in partnership with Creative Change Educational Solutions.

 

Curriculum for High School Teachers

 

 

Our Town Curriculum Table of Contents Our Town is an interdisciplinary high school curriculum focused on Brownfield remediation and economic redevelopment. The program leads students through a process of identifying specific Brownfield sites in their communities and studying their redevelopment potential. The program is developed by Purdue University in partnership with Creative Change.

Section I: What are Brownfields and why do they matter?

Introductory Lesson: Community Inventory (social studies or science): This introductory lesson introduces students to Brownfields, Brownfield redevelopment, and the Our Town program through a series of community-based research and mapping activities.

Lesson 1: Welcome to Our Town (social studies or science): Students create a working definition of Brownfields and identify potential Brownfield sites in their communities based on a review of ‘warning signs’ and criteria.

Lesson 2: Brownfield Site History (social studies or science): Working in teams, students research and compile a site history of a particular Brownfield site using interviews, maps, public documents, database research, and other methods.

Lesson 3: How did we get here? (social studies with science linkages): Students investigate historic factors that shaped the community’s current economic condition and/or contributed to the presence of Brownfields.

Section II) Analyzing the Environmental and Social Aspects of Brownfields

Lesson 4: Soil: More than the dirt beneath my feet (science): Students explore different soil types, and examine how they affect the ability of liquid Brownfield contaminants to travel through the ground.

Lesson 5: Hydrology (science): This lesson explores how Brownfield contaminants can affect water quality and health.

Lesson 6: Impacts of Contaminants on Human Health (science and social studies): This lesson investigates health impacts of Brownfield contaminants through an epidemiology experiment and the research of medical databases.

Lesson 7: Brownfields and Democracy (science and social studies): This lesson focuses on the environmental justice aspects of Brownfields and their impacts.

Culminating research project for Section II: Students use GIS mapping to create an environmental site assessment.

Section III) Decision-making and Action: Strategies for Brownfield Redevelopment

Lesson 8: Stakeholders and the Redevelopment Process (science and social studies): Through a role-playing activity, students experience various perspectives on a fictional Brownfields remediation decision and the potential conflicts that can arise.

Final Project: Economic Redevelopment Plan (social studies): Students apply their learning to creating a redevelopment plan for a Brownfield site.

Get involved

We are seeking teams of teachers (science-social studies) interested in joining a national network of schools using "Our Town." Contact us for more information on becoming an "Our Town" site.