A partnership between the Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment and the National Science Foundation’s GK-12 program at Brooklyn College created a unique program utilizing GPS and mapping as a tool for high school students to learn about their local environment while gaining skills and confidence in scientific data collection and analysis techniques. The Academy for Environmental Leadership is a public high school in Brooklyn, New York, serving students within the Bushwick community, where 50% of adults have a high school diploma, and only 8% have graduated from college. Bushwick is also plagued with a number of environmental and community health issues, including high rates of asthma, heart disease, and diabetes compared to the rest of Brooklyn and New York City. We designed a service-learning project where students conducted a community food assessment evaluating the availability and accessibility of healthy food within the Bushwick community. The project utilizes GPS and GIS mapping, as well as basic statistical analysis and graphing techniques. We worked with an elective class of 25 students to develop the initial sampling plan and for the data collection. Six students continued to work on the project through a paid internship to complete the data analysis and mapping. The project will culminate with the students publicly presenting their results at a community forum.
Results/Conclusions
The objective of this project is that through conducting research within their local community, the students will gain relevant experience in real-world science, technology, and math applications. We conducted formative and summative evaluations of student STEM skills to determine the effectiveness of the program. We also evaluated changes in attitudes towards individual confidence levels and sense of empowerment. This presentation will include a description of the overall program design and outcomes, as well as general recommendations and lessons learned through this program.
