bringing my research into my teaching

When teaching a chapter on environmental issues, I like to take the class to the EPA website in Spanish and look up local sources of pollution (air or water, usually). If it is an introductory course, I have them compare the levels of pollution between certain companies and practice their comparisons (less than, more than, equal to) on the Envirofacts page. Another grammar point that can be used in conjunction with the site is to view the Enviromapper to practice location vocabulary like near, far, across from, next to, etc. If it is a more advanced class, I will follow up exploring the site with a discussion or a debate where students talk about why certain companies may pollute more than others, when pollution is okay or necessary, and perhaps even issues of environmental justice.

The students find the activity interesting because they explore environmental problems in their own communities and at the same time master a grammar point in a useful, real-world application.