Wildfire Weather
Objectives
Participants will:
- Identify the three elements required to
create wildfires.
- Explain one way in which wildfires can
create weather.
- Understand the prefix “pyro” and apply
it to new vocabulary terms.
- Describe how wildfires can be both good
and bad for an ecosystem.
Suggested
Grade Level
6th Grade
Subject Areas
Science
Timeline
2 days (63 min classes)
Standards
Science
CDE
Standard: 6th Grade Science:
Standard 3 – Evaluate evidence that Earth’s geosphere, atmosphere,
hydrosphere, and biosphere interact as a complex system.
·
3.1 – Complex interrelationships between
Earth’s structure and natural processes that over time are both constructive
and destructive.
o Gather,
analyze, and communicate an evidence-based explanation for the complex
interaction between Earth’s constructive and destructive forces.
CDE
Standard: 6th Grade Science:
Standard 1 – Apply an understanding of atomic and molecular structure to
explain the properties of matter, and predict outcomes of chemical and nuclear
reactions
·
1.3 – The physical characteristics and changes
of solid, liquid, and gas states can be explained using the particulate model.
o Explain
how the arrangement and motion of particles in a substance such as water
determine its state.
o Distinguish
between changes in temperature and changes of state using the particle model of
matter.
Background
This
lesson will take place after students have learned the basics of meteorology
(including cloud types and names), and the scientific process. It will be an introductory lesson on
wildfires, focusing on some of the intense phenomenon we saw with the Waldo
Canyon and Black Forest Wildfires in 2012 and 2013.
Earth’s
weather is created from the heat energy available from the sun combined with
the moisture (water vapor) in the atmosphere. When the heat energy and water vapor combine correctly, they
are able to form clouds, to make rain and thunderstorms, and to cause winds to
blow. While Earth’s atmosphere is
made up of many layers, weather only occurs in the troposphere, which is the
bottommost layer. When scientists study the chances of temperature, air
pressure, moisture, and wind direction in the troposphere, they are studying
Meteorology.
Air
currents (high and low) directly affect weather and are made up of air that has
similar temperature and moisture.
Air currents are involved in the cycle of solids, liquids, and gases
changing throughout the atmosphere.
Fronts can form between two air masses and will usually produce
clouds. Sometimes these fronts
will assist in a variety of weather conditions including thunderstorms,
lightning, and tornadoes.
Wildfires
and weather are related and both require specific atmospheric conditions. Thunderstorms can start wildfires
directly due to lightning strikes and can further affect the spread of the fire
with wind and air currents. If a
lack of water vapor and weather occur, the drought that follows can make the
conditions right for easy spread of the fire.
Large
wildfires can also be known to create weather by modifying the atmospheric
conditions in certain areas. They
can create their own winds which then feed back into the strength of the fire
and the height/speed of the flames.
The higher temperatures can increase the heat energy that directly
impacts the environment in front of the moving wildfire.
Heat
energy is transferred within the atmosphere and in the ecosystem in three ways:
1. Convection: the transfer of heat by the movement
of rising hot air or gasses.
2. Radiation: Heat energy released in all
directions from a burning object.
3. Conduction: the process by which heat is
transferred through direct contact.
Vocabulary
1. Meteorology
2. Wildland Fire
3. Prefix: Pyro
4. Pyrocumulus Cloud
5. Atmosphere
6. Troposphere
Materials
1. “Two Sides of Fire” DVD
2. Students each have their own iPads
3. Student Notebooks (Survival Guide #1)
4. SMARTBoard
5. iPad apps: Edmodo
Lesson
Day 1
- As class
starts, students will follow daily procedures, take out their iPads, and complete
the Warm-up activity (Pre-assessment).
- Go over the
day’s objectives with the class.
Discuss the unit inquiry question.
a.
Inquiry Q: How do forces inside Earth and on the
surface build, destroy, and change Earth’s crust?
- Have the
students take notes in the correct assignment on Edmodo (on iPads). They should be listing their
visual observations of the various wildfires depicted in the video.
- Show the
video “The Two Sides of Fire” but make sure it does not have the
sound on.
- Have the
students Think-Pair-Share about their observations of fire. Come back to class discussion
about visual aspects of fire.
a.
What colors did you see?
b.
How many different types of fire did you see?
c.
What shapes did the fire take?
- End of day
reflection:
a.
On Edmodo, complete the closing assignment: What types of weather did you see
during the video today?
Day 2
- Have
students draw a Venn diagram in their Science notebooks.
a.
Left side – Good sides of fire
b.
Right side – bad sides of fire
- Rewatch the
video “The Two Sides of Fire”, this time including the narration. Students will fill in the Venn Diagram
as they watch the video.
- Have
students take turns adding their ideas to the small group Venn
Diagrams. Post the
diagrams in the wildfire area of the classroom.
- Discuss the
meaning of the prefix “pyro”.
- Combine
“pyro” with types of clouds (learned during previous lessons) and describe
what the new vocabulary terms mean.
a.
Pyrocirrus clouds
b.
Pyrocumulus clouds
c.
Pyrotornadoes
- Break
students into two halves and have them work on article readings:
a.
Student 1:
Read through the article, “Experts Explain How Waldo Canyon Fire Moved
Downhill,” from the website: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2012/07/09/experts-explain-how-waldo-canyon-fire-moved-downhill/
b.
Student 2:
Read through the article, “Colorado Scientists: Wildfires Make Their Own
Weather,” from the website: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20875101/colorado-scientists-wildfires-make-their-own-weather
c.
Have the students Pair-Share and give a 2 minute
review of their article to their partner.
- Students
will complete the post-assessment Edmodo Exit ticket on Edmodo for
homework tonight.
Extensions
·
Continued wildfire activities (Pyrotornadoes, Fire
Ecology)
·
Convection Currents (related to weather, fires,
plate tectonics, hurricanes, etc.)
·
Operation Montserrat Challenger Mission
(simulation)
Evaluation/Assessment
Formative:
·
Entrance Ticket (pre-assessment) on Day 1 of this
lesson -via Edmodo
o What do you
remember seeing in the atmosphere during wildfires such as the Waldo Canyon and
Black Forest fires?
o What does “pyro”
stand for?
o What three things
must you have in order to create wildfires?
·
Exit Ticket (post-assessment) on Day 2 of this
lesson – via Edmodo
o Explain the
meaning of the word Pyrocumulus cloud.
o How can wildfires
create their own weather?
o What three
elements must you have in order for wildfire to take place?
o Do you think that
wildfires are good or bad? Explain
your answer with examples from what you have learned in the last two days.
Summative:
·
Unit Post-Assessment (Test over entire unit
covering Earth’s constructive and destructive forces)
·
I will be assessing this as part of the Operation
Montserrat Mission we will be completing in December. This is a simulated experience combining meteorology,
ecology, and earth sciences. It
asks the students to use data, make predictions, and help evacuate towns on the
island of Montserrat as it is affected by both a volcanic eruption and a
hurricane. This simulation is
based on events from June 1997.
Resources
·
Project
Learning Tree Lessons: Pre-K – 12
·
Project
Learning Tree: From Forests to Faucets
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