This article outlines how gerrymandering impacts climate change legislation at the state level, using examples from Texas and Ohio to illustrate the point.
This article includes information on redistricting vs. gerrymandering, gerrymandering's effects, different ways of redistricting, and environmental justice.
Teaching Tips
Positives
This article shines a light on the problem of gerrymandering in the United States and how it hinders climate legislation.
This article links to many other resources for further research.
Additional Prerequisites
States redistrict their congressional maps after the decennial census, which happens every ten years. The last redistricting happened in 2020.
Differentiation
Art students can analyze the political cartoon at the top of the article.
Students in social studies or civics class can research their home state to see how their districts are drawn. Students can discuss whether they think their districts are gerrymandered or not.
Students can conduct further research using wonderful resources from the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication. Two great resources include these climate opinion factsheets and these climate opinion maps.
Scientist Notes
This resource provides insights on redistricting and issues surrounding politics of climate change. It explores the political will from the different political parties towards addressing issues on environmental justice and climate change. This is recommended for teaching.
Standards
College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Standards
Dimension 2: Civics
D2.Civ.6.6-8 Describe the roles of political, civil, and economic organizations in shaping people's lives.
D2.Civ.11.6-8 Differentiate among procedures for making decisions in the classroom, school, civil society, and local, state, and national government in terms of how civic purposes are intended.
D2.Civ.11.9-12 Evaluate multiple procedures for making governmental decisions at the local, state, national, and international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved.
D2.Civ.2.9-12 Analyze the role of citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to various theories of democracy, changes in Americans' participation over time, and alternative models from other countries, past and present.
D2.Civ.5.9-12 Evaluate citizens' and institutions' effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
Common Core English Language Arts Standards (CCSS.ELA)
Reading: History/Social Studies (6-12)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.6-8.10 By the end of grade 8, read and comprehend history/social studies texts in the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
