Environmental Issue Project
As we go through life, we are constantly faced with issues. Should I go to college or just hang out on the street corner? Should I go out with Dave or Jim Bob? Should I watch this rerun of Survivor or help save the tropical rainforests? These are just a few of the issues you may face. You may have strong feelings regarding certain issues, but without a strategy, those feelings may never be expressed. We live in a country of sheep where the masses follow the few with little resistance. We need to learn to ask questions and demand answers or solutions, which are reasonable and sustainable. Our reasons for doing things need to go beyond, “ That’s the way Grandpa did it.” It just might be possible that Grandpa was doing things wrong or that situations have changed. Hopefully this project will introduce some methods you can use to expressing your feelings on issues and getting action started at a grassroots level. Here is a brief description of what you will need to do for your action project.
Letter to Editor: You will be responsible for writing a letter to the editor of a local or regional newspaper. Please pick an issue you have strong feelings about. Your letter should sound as though you care about what you are writing about and not like its just another assignment for school. This should be informational. You are explaining what the issue is and bringing it to their attention because you are concerned.
Letter to Representative: Our political system works the best when people communicate their feelings and ideas with elected officials so they can hopefully make decisions, which reflect the wishes of the voters. You will write a letter to a local representative regarding an issue and hopefully will get a response. Much like the letter to the editor, you should explain the problem. Ask for their help, they want the please the voters so use that as part of your worry.
Informational Public Service: You will develop some form of strategy for getting information to people within the community regarding your issue. This may be a table display and presentation at a sporting event or parent-teacher conferences, a brochure, a posting on the school web page, or any other means you can think of to get your information to people.
ASSIGNMENT DUE DATE POINTS
Letter to Editor September 23 20
Letter to Representative September 30 20
Informational Public Service October 7 20
Letter to Editor: 2-3 paragraphs
1 – introduce yourself and state the problem
2 – support your view on the problem using facts and perhaps statistics
3 – summarize/punch line
Letter to the Representative: 2-3 paragraphs
1 – introduce yourself and state the problem
2 – support your view and state some possible solutions you have thought of
3 – ask the representative for help possible putting your solutions into effect and conclude the letter
Don’t forget to end the letter with your name, if you are using your name; sign using something like concerned citizen if you don’t use your name.
Make sure you have a correct heading on each letter
Letter to the editor should be addressed to the editor by name or just Dear Editor; it should also be a local or regional paper
Letter to the representative should be addressed to that person by name.