ARIZONA ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY 

History and Environmental Education / 
Lauren Coleman and Luis Maya 
 

Student Version 
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/185wAh0bqSyvjRxea_DeCMqxEcxdpOk-j?usp=sharing  

Compelling Question 

How can legislation impact our local environments? 

 
 
 

Introduction/Overview of Experience  

Arizona faces many environmental challenges. Between drought, heat, air quality, 
and conservation issues, drastic improvements must be made in order to keep Arizona 
livable. State and Federal bills have been introduced and passed to address the situation, 
but there is still much more work to be done. With this interdisciplinary project combining 
U.S. Government and Environmental Education, students will be able to take the reins of 
the Arizona State Legislature and introduce their own environmental legislation. Combining 
the two content areas allows students to become well versed in the Arizona lawmaking 
process as well as environmental issues facing the state. Following the end of the project, 
students will have directly experienced the effect that state legislation can have on the 
environment, answering the compelling question above. 

For this project, students will temporarily become Arizona State Legislators. After 
being placed into groups of five, students will find a real environmental issue currently 
affecting the state. Once an issue has been found, groups will research their topic and 
begin to write a bill proposal that attempts to solve it. With their bill now completed, 
groups will create a well researched, organized, and factual presentation in support of their 
bill. Each group will present their presentation to the class while everyone else writes notes 
on the effectiveness of their bill. Following the presentation, presenting students will 
conduct a Q&A, in which they will be expected to properly defend their proposal.  

Standards (include ELA and Content)  

HS.C4.6 Assess options for action to address local, regional, and global problems by 
engaging in self- reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.  

HS.SP4.3 Integrate evidence from multiple relevant sources and interpretations into a 
reasoned argument. 

HS.G2.2 Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced 
cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions. 

HS.C2.1 Explain the importance of individual participation in civic and political institutions.  

 
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11-12.SL.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence in an organized, 

developed style appropriate to purpose, audience, and task, allowing listeners to follow the 
speaker's line of reasoning, message, and any alternative perspectives. 

Learning Outcomes 

Day 1: SWBAT assess options for action to address Arizona’s environmental problems by 
engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning. 

Day 2: SWBAT evaluate how political and economic decisions by Arizona legislators have 
influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of the state.  

Day 3: SWBAT integrate evidence from multiple relevant sources and interpretations into a 
reasoned legislative bill. 

Day 4: SWBAT explain the importance of individual participation in Arizona’s civic and 
political institutions. 

Day 5: SWBAT present their proposed bill in an organized, developed style appropriate to a 
state legislative session, allowing peers to follow the speaker’s line of reasoning and 
message. 

Evidence of Mastery 

Bills address Arizona’s environmental problems. 

Students were actively engaged in the research, writing, and presentation processes. 

Bills are supported by ample and credible evidence. 

Bills analyze effectiveness of previous legislation (when applicable). 

Bills propose reasonably implementable solutions. 

Texts/Text Types 

What Are Environmental Laws? 

 
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US Environmental Laws Through the Decades 

Top 5 Pieces of Environmental Legislation 

A Curious Person’s Guide to the EPA and U.S. Environmental Law 

How an Arizona Bill Becomes Law 

State Legislature Bills in Consideration 

ADEQ Report of 2017 State Environmental Bills 

AZ Department of Environmental Quality 

Arizona Drought Article 

Pollinator Conservation Projects 

Green roof in Tempe 

Biosphere 2 Podcast: Hidden Water 

Tempe Public Art 

   

 
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Lesson One: Ask A Compelling 

Question  

Inquiry Question 

How can legislation impact our local environments? 

Directions: 

Hook 

Teacher will present the following task to students: “Draw/write a description of what 
comes to mind when you think of your local environment.” 

- Give students three minutes to complete the task on a sheet of paper. 

- Once three minutes have passed, teacher will have students share their 
drawing/description with their table group. 
- Look for answers relating to schools, neighborhoods, desert, city, home, etc…  

Once students have shared their thoughts, teacher will show a five minute ​video​ further 
explaining what an environment is, accompanied by the definition of the word. 

- Using information gathered from the video and definition, students will be 
given five minutes to discuss the following questions within their table group: 
- What is an environment? 
- How do the definitions from the video and the dictionary relate to the 
environment that you drew or described? 
- What issues do you see in your local environment that need to be 
solved? 

 
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- Students will individually post their responses to P
​ adlet​ ​during 
the group discussion. 
- Look for answers relating to water, heat, animals, population, 
etc…  

Activity 

Teacher will have students brainstorm for five minutes with their table group regarding 
how to solve Arizona’s environmental problems. 

- While brainstorming, students will share their group’s ideas on the class P
​ adlet​. 
- Look for answers such as “vote,” “volunteer,” “petition,” “protest,” “propose 
legislation,” “call representatives,” and “write letters to representatives.” 

Table groups will then be given ten minutes to create their own Padlet and sort the class 
responses into groups. 

- Class responses from both questions will need to be sorted. 

- Students will have total control in how they choose to group the responses. 
- Once groups are done, they will share their Padlet link in the class P
​ adlet​. 
- Students will then have five minutes to look at each group’s Padlet and see how they 
organized the responses. 

Closing 

- Teacher will give students an opportunity to share any questions they might have.  
- Students will individually fill out a ​Google Form​ ​as their exit ticket prior to leaving 
class. 

   

 
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Lesson Two: Analyze Sources  

Inquiry Question 
How can legislation impact our local environments? 

Hook 
90 Second Brain Dump: Students will have 90 seconds to write down everything they know 
about environmental laws and policies on the class ​Mentimeter​.  

Activity 
Teacher will provide access to the ​Day 2 presentation​. The presentation will guide 
students to practice two different “think aloud” strategies with multiple texts. These 
activities should be done independently. 

- Video: W
​ hat Are Environmental Laws?​ (3 min) 
- Think aloud: ​Guide to environmental laws in the United States​ (3-5 min) 
- Individual practice: G
​ uide to environmental laws in the United States​ (5 min) 
- New article: T​ op 5 Pieces of Environmental Legislation​ (10 min) 
- Video: U
​ S Environmental Laws Through the Decades​ (3 min) 
- Think aloud: ​State Legislature Bills in Consideration​ (3-5 min) 
- Individual practice: S
​ tate Legislature Bills in Consideration​ (5 min) 
- New article: A
​ DEQ Report of 2017 State Environmental Bills​ (10 min) 

Closing 
Each student will complete this e
​ xit ticket​ before leaving class.  
   

 
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Lesson Three: Creatively Synthesize 

Claims and Evidence   

Inquiry Question 

How can legislation impact our local environments? 

Directions: 

Hook 
Teacher will provide students with the​ ​Day 3 presentation​. Students will explore this 
Wakelet​ ​to gather evidence for their bills. 

Activity 

Following the instructions in the Day 3 presentation, students will use the “Putting it All 
Together” strategy to organize their ideas and prewrite their bills. Students will make a 
blank copy of the chart provided and complete the chart with their group. 

When students are finished prewriting, they may begin working on writing their bills. 
Students will continue working on their bills for the remainder of the class period. 

Closing 
Each student will submit a copy of the “Putting it All Together” chart that they completed 
with their group members. This should be submitted to Canvas before students leave class 
today. 

 
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Lesson Four : Critically Evaluate and 

Revise  
  Comparing Texts and Peers   

Inquiry Question 

How can legislation impact our local environments? 

Directions: 

Hook 

Teacher will provide students with the​ ​Day 4 presentation​. Students will have 15 minutes 
to individually complete the Persuade Me! Strategy 

- Using ​Google Forms​, students will be tasked with writing three facts and three 
emotional/personal appeals to support their bill 
- Using that information, they will then craft a 5-8 sentence persuasion letter to 
garner support for their bill 
- When completed, students will submit the form and move onto the activity 

Activity 

Once completed with the Persuade Me! Strategy, students will have the rest of the class 
period to meet with their group and continue working on their bill. 

Closing 

Students will submit their completed bills to Canvas by the end of the class period.   

 
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Lesson Five : Share, Publish, Act  

Inquiry Question 
How can legislation impact our local environments? 

Directions: 

Hook 
Teacher will provide students with the ​Day 5 presentation​ as well as the 5 bills that were 
completed and submitted to Canvas yesterday. Students will open their b
​ allots​, which can 
also be found within the Day 5 presentation, in preparation for today’s “legislative session.” 

Activity 
With their groups, students will discuss each proposed bill. For each bill, the group should 
choose to use one of the two “Think Aloud” strategies presented on Day 2 (either “retelling 
the details of the text” or “3-2-1”). After each group discussion, students will vote 
independently on the bill in question. Teacher should emphasize throughout the class 
period that students should vote honestly because their votes are private. Groups will have 
10 minutes per bill (including discussion and voting). 

Closing 
With the last ten minutes of class, students will complete their ballots and submit them to 
Canvas. 

 
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