similar issues across different states (and soon, countries!) to compare, discuss, and collaborate on Quests and project solutions. A forthcoming dashboard will illustrate the active Quests across all classrooms and will include opportunities for different classes to share their experiences.
Part of something bigger
The Quests in Project Hero lead students to action-oriented projects that concern localized environmental challenges, but most of the solutions students will come up with also posi- tively impact large-scale environmental problems. Planting trees and perennial grasses, reducing and composting food waste, establishing pollinator habitats, revegetating river buffers and streambanks, raising and releasing imperiled spe- cies — these are all solutions that affect the global issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, water resource degradation, and habitat loss. Completed and reported in isolation, these projects and actions are empowering for students and com- mendable, but they don’t represent the full potential for youth action at scale. The next phase for Project Hero is to align the Quest
Screen to green Project Hero is a web-based platform, but it is far from being an internet-only experience. The Quests are hosted on an online system that allows us to curate amazing resources, data, and opportunities. These are then woven into a “hero” narrative that sends students outside to observe, discuss, and research, before returning with what they need in order to progress on their given Quest. If students run into an issue or problem, there is a cadre
of real-life volunteer experts — the Hero Society — to whom they can reach out with questions. Depending on the geog- raphy of the Quest and the willingness of the Hero Society members, students can even request that someone visit the class to share insights about their work and offer advice. The Solve projects offer another opportunity to connect
students with local partner organizations and projects that have a much larger footprint, while also exposing students to career opportunities in the environmental and conservation fields. For example, the Longleaf Pine Quest offers classes opportunities to work with state and federal agencies and NGOs to raise rare frog, salamander, and tortoise species in their classrooms and release them into the fragile ecosys- tem. The Minnesota Freshwater Quest connects students with watershed conservation organizations and agencies and outdoor recreation professionals so that learners can explore opportunities to engage with their watershed, do water qual- ity sampling, and contribute data through citizen science. Beyond providing the content that students experience
while going through the Quest, the web-based platform allows CPF to connect educators and students working on
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projects with large-scale efforts such as the UN Sustain- able Development Goals (https://sustainabledevelopment.
un.org/?menu=1300) and the Drawdown Solutions (www.
drawdown.org/solutions) and begin measuring and illus- trating the aggregated impact of youth completing Quests towards these goals and metrics. Our hope is that by demon- strating to youth that their actions are meaningful not only in their own local context but also on a global scale, they will understand that they are part of something much larger than themselves. And this awareness will strengthen their sense of empowerment and desire to be part of the solution beyond the scope of that first Quest.
How to get started on a Quest
How does an educator check out or participate in Project Hero? It’s pretty easy. Visit
https://herofortheplanet.org, where you can browse Quests that are available and coming soon. Create a free educator account. This will allow you to create your own version of the Quests for your class that qualifies for grants. When you initiate a Quest, you will get a unique URL for that instance. Provide the URL to your stu- dents and it will give them full access to the student interface without their having to create an account or login. If you have multiple classes, create multiple instances so you can qualify for multiple grants! Also, when you log in to your Quest, you will have access
to educator resources throughout the Quest that provide addi- tional links, tips, and reminders. This information will not be visible to your students on their URL.
Required time to complete a Quest
That depends on how much time you have to commit and what level of engagement you would like to foster in your stu- dents. We have had educators who have taken their students through a Quest in two weeks by having them complete a simple project that their students had little voice in creating. The students were enthusiastic, but only moderately engaged. Compare that with the class who adopted the Dreamy Dusky- wing and used the Quest as the basis of a nine-week science unit. You saw the engagements of those students in the story above!
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