Redlining and Environmental Racism Lesson
Lesson Plan
1 hour 20 minutesGrades6, 7, 8Civics, History, Geography
This resource has been reviewed by SubjectToClimate's climate scientists and verified for scientific accuracy and up-to-date information. Learn about our review process →
Written by Dan Castrigano
About this lesson
This lesson plan connects redlining with current issues of environmental and racial justice.
Inquire: Teacher shares useful framing and definitions. Then students will explore the Mapping Inequality tool.
Investigate: Students explore various environmental justice case studies in groups. Each case study includes a specific city and one of the following: asthma rates, extreme heat, air pollution, and urban tree cover. Students will connect redlining to their case studies.
Inspire: Students discuss how redlining is related to their case studies and what should be done about these issues. Finally, students complete a written reflection.
Preview the lesson plan
Better on a bigger screen? Open it in its own tab.View Lesson Plan
Everything you need to teach it
How to edit these materials (video)Teaching tips
Suggestions
- This lesson works well paired with a broader unit on 20th century U.S. history, segregation, or the Civil Rights Movement to give students historical scaffolding for the origins of redlining.
- For a stronger ELA connection, students can analyze the primary source as a close reading exercise and practice specific annotation or analysis skills.
- The written reflection in the Inspire section can be extended into a full argumentative essay and assigned as an independent or homework assignment.
- For a stronger math connection, students can work directly with the Tree Equity Score or air quality data behind their case study by calculating differences between redlined and non-redlined areas.
- If your school’s city or region appears in Mapping Inequality, teachers should consider using it as an additional or alternate example alongside Cleveland for a more direct and localized connection.
- If you live in the United States, you can adapt case study #4 - the American Forests Tree Equity Score Map - to whichever major city is closest to your school. The lesson is designed for students to explore Philadelphia, but students can simply look at any other city to make the connection between redlining and urban tree cover.
- This lesson can be extended into two days with Inquire and Investigate on Day 1, and Inspire on Day 2.
- Teachers can search for and use case studies that are more localized to their region.
Prerequisites
- Students should have some prior exposure to segregation-era U.S. history such as Jim Crow laws and the Civil Rights Movement.
- There might be some pushback from those who do not understand racism.
- Students might think “I’m not racist.” But it’s important to know that racism exists whether one perpetrates individual racist acts or not.
- For some background information and definitions, use this resource from Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s book, How to Be an Antiracist.
- It may be useful to discuss how climate change is a “threat multiplier.” For things like urban heat islands and urban tree cover, climate change makes inequities even worse.
- While this lesson connects clearly to the long term environmental effects of redlining, the case study connections will be more nuanced and may not line up “perfectly.” Teachers should be prepared to talk about the ambiguity as a valuable teaching moment about correlation, causation, or the uneven effects across different areas.
- Teachers should preview all excerpts and primary source language and determine if additional framing or context is needed.
- Teachers should be aware of students’ personal experiences or connections to redlined neighborhoods and plan how to support or guide discussions.
Differentiation
- Provide sentence starters for the Inspire written reflection for students who need support getting started with open-ended writing.
- Teachers can read the two primary source paragraphs aloud as a whole class read. Additionally, teachers can provide simplified or paraphrased options for students needing reading support.
- Teachers can use any graphic organizer to help students connect a specific piece of redlining evidence to their case study.
- Students can be grouped in mixed ability levels for the case study research.
- Teachers or aides can lead or facilitate a case study small group for students needing the most support.
- For an extension, students can engage in any of the following activities:
- Research their own city or region to see where it appears on Mapping Inequality.
- Compare two different cities’ redlining maps and identify patterns across regions.
- Explore the Tree Equity Score Analyzer and model how specific tree planting would shift a neighborhood’s score.
- Write a letter to a local official proposing a specific policy response.
- Research current redlining in their region or state.
From the scientist review
This is a thoroughly sourced and cited lesson plan. All of the external links meet our quality standards for accuracy and current information. Additionally, the external links are well-sourced, and the data is provided for tools like the Tree Cover Equity map. This lesson has passed our scientific quality assessment.
Want this to fit your class?
Add your location for local examples, questions, and action ideas.
About the teacher writer
Dan Castrigano
Academic Teacher at Burlington YouthBuild
Dan Castrigano taught STEM and humanities at elementary, middle, and high schools for 11 years. From 2021-2023, he served as the Chief Content Officer at SubjectToClimate. Dan advocates for climate education and organizes for climate, social, and racial justice.
