Identifying Risks Lesson Plan

Ages: 10 to 13

Goal: To allow students to identify abandoned properties and buildings in their community and encourage their communities to take action.

Skills: Critical thinking, writing skills, community engagement

Time: 45 minutes

Activity 1:

Play PSA.
In groups, ask students if they know where any abandoned properties and buildings are in their community. Have them mark these spots on a map with a highlighter.
Bring students back together and see if different groups identified the same buildings. Have students share what abandoned properties and buildings they have seen in the community, so that their peers are also aware.

Activity 2:

As a class, discuss why abandoned properties and buildings are dangerous to the community. Ask students how abandoned properties and buildings affect the community.
Have students write a letter to the mayor or other local official about one of the abandoned properties and buildings identified in Activity 1. Encourage them to write about how this building is impacting the community and what actions the local government can take to protect the community from the dangers the building causes.

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