August 17, 2016 Vince Melrum

Step 1

An understanding of the Community Action and Problem Solving Process as a whole will help you, as an educator, better understand how each step can help you accomplish your classroom goals. As your students begin the Process, a comprehensive environmental inventory can lead to a well-defined issue to be addressed and, eventually, more focused research.

Use the following tools to:

  • Understand where in your curriculum and teaching responsibilities the Process fits best
  • Connect the environmental inventory to your curriculum and standards needs
  • Understand how to prepare your students to engage effectively in a project-based learning experience
  • Learn about a variety of inventory methods, and the types we recommend

Helpful Step 1 Videos

Get a brief overview of Step One of the Community Action and Problem-Solving Process.
Aligning and Planning for Earth Force
This video will help educators think about how to work the Process into what they are already teaching so that they can plan for a seamless integration.
Inventory Successes
Three keys to a successful Earth Force Inventory: outdoor experiences, expert input, and using multiple methods of gathering data.

Earth Force in Lake Erie video
Use this video to introduce Earth Force to your students.

Step One Classroom Resources

A Note on Distance Learning Facilitation: In a distance learning environment, conduct inventories in students’ homes and surrounding outdoor space (if accessible). Earth Force is creating 3 inventories specifically for this purpose in the following topics: 
Water Quality
Waste 
Flooding Risk
These inventories will include google slides to introduce each topic, an educator instruction accompaniment, and additional digital resources specific to each topic. Please take and adapt as needed to fit your individual needs. 
After conducting inventories, use the fillable version of our Root Cause Tree to delve into the underlying community issues of the observations and data collected.