Climate justice: what is it, and why does it matter? How are local communities already using language, history, art, and science to advance climate justice? And what roles can young people play in these movements?

“Getting to the Roots” is an interdisciplinary, project-based learning unit designed for middle school and early high school students in Lenapehoking* to ask and answer these questions. This unit combines art, science, English language arts, and service learning to engage students’ hearts, minds, and hands in twelve 45-minute instructional periods. Getting to the Roots was created by the Climate Justice Initiative, a project of Mural Arts Philadelphia in collaboration with Black- and Indigenous-led environmental justice movements in Lenapehoking.

*Lenapehoking: the Indigenous Lenape name for the Delaware River watershed, including Philadelphia and parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, and parts of Connecticut and Maryland.