CASE STUDY
Baker High School: How a Contaminated “Brownfield” Inspired a Unique STEM Course, Motivated Students, & Increased Achievement
It’s the ultimate recycling project: take a contaminated property, clean it up, and find a new use that will help revitalize the community.
This was the challenge for high school students in the Baker City (Oregon) School District. Through an engaging new course, a cohort of students investigated a district-owned “brownfield”–a polluted property with barriers to redevelopment.
The course led students through the same process engineers, scientists, and policy makers use when working to revitalize brownfields: identify the site and its contaminants, study its reuse potential, and create a redevelopment plan with local stakeholders.
Download this case study to learn how this interdisciplinary STEM course increased scientific knowledge and the skills and motivation to apply it in the community.