Lesson Plan by SM

Wild Fire – Mock Trial 

Description & Lesson Plan Fire Ecology Institute

Project Learning Tree Submission June 23-28, 2013

News Reporter Assignment

The Mock Trial is a 4-6 week long Project Based Learning Event.  It includes interdisciplinary development and collaboration in social studies (civics), science (environmental studies), language arts, health and theater.  Standards for the entire unit will be listed here with specifics for specific assignment description of (lesson plan) requirements for the News Reporters. On any given day prior to the trial as many as nine sets of different students “work for the day” will be posted. The entire Mock Trial unit will be completed by November 1, 2013.

Story line:

     The trial is based on a wildfire that destroyed nearly 100,000 acres of valuable wilderness area, an urban interface area including ten homes, costing the   taxpayers nearly $200 million dollars. In the process of the fire two lives were lost. Five recent high school graduates were among approximately 50 campers and hikers in the Randolph State Forest.  Two of these upcoming college students are accused of acts of negligence resulting in wildfire.  The Crocker Basin Fire supposedly spread to nearby-timber dry trees and then into an adjoining residential area of Crocker Ranch.  Before the fire was put out many fire professionals with thousands of pieces of equipment worked nearly a month, to save as much of the forest/wilderness and ultimately residential area as possible.

Characters:

Students will apply for their positions from the list of characters below; students will review the brief description of the job or character.  Witnesses will receive Confidential Information Cards that explain the information they have that will have to be determined through investigation by multiple individuals.  Additionally, the witnesses will develop additional specific information pertinent to their character’s situation.

Lesson Plan Activity:

News Reporters – Job Description

News reporters have been around for hundreds of years.  Beginning with newspaper reporters, followed by radio, television, and now on-line media, reporters have been recording and describing what people have been doing on a daily basis.  Reporters are an important part of mass communication in our global age.

You are going to take on the part of a news reporter and (upon daily instructions from your teacher) interview people involved in the case, write articles, create multi-media presentations of your investigations and observations.  Your products will include, but are not limited to:  Newspaper articles, and audio and/or visual reports.   Your job will be to listen carefully, record your information, take accurate notes, and write and create the most interesting story you can.  Remember – there is another news reporter competing with you!

Writing Reminders:

1. There are six words to remember- Who, What, Where When why and How (5W-H).  These words prompt the questions:  Who was involved?  What exactly happened?  Where did it happen?  When did it happen?  Why did it happen?  And finally - How did it happen?   You should address these six questions in the first paragraph of your story.

2. Take careful, complete notes of what you observe and what you hear. Keep track of who makes important statements and exactly what they said so you can quote them accurately when you write your article. You will submit these during work checks watch for posted dates.

3. After giving all of the basic information—the 5W-H in the first paragraph—use the rest of the paragraphs to give details of what important things took place during each newsworthy event.

4. Each article/report submission must have a headline and your word count should be between 150-200, be they written or spoken. If interviewing people in your presentation, their contributions do not count toward your word count.

5. Include as much background information as is necessary so the article/report will make sense to someone who knows nothing about what is happening.

Applied Learning Standards Language Arts for the above activity are listed below.  The Social Studies and Science Standards for entire unit listed separately.

NCTE Standards for the English Language Arts

Standard 3:

Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features.

Standard 4:

Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g. conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

Standard 5:

Student employ a wide range of strategies as they write a use different writing

process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

Standard 6:

Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g.,

spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print text.

Standard 11:

Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members

of a variety of literacy communities.

National Council for the Social Studies Standards

Standard 3. People, places, and environments

The learner can:

Construct and use mental maps of locales, regions, and the world that demonstrate understanding of the relative location, direction, size and shape.

Standard 5. Individuals, Groups, and Institutions

The learner can:

Show how groups and institutions work to meet individual needs and to promote the common good, and identify examples of where they fail to do so.

Standard 6 Power, Authority, and Governance

The learner can:

-examine persistent issues involving the rights, roles, and status of the individual in relation to the general welfare.

-analyze and explain ideas and governmental mechanisms to meet needs and wants of citizens, regulate territory, manage conflict, and establish order and security.

Standard 10 Civic Ideas & Practices

The learner can:

-examine the origins and continuing influence of key ideals of the democratic republican form of government, such as individual human dignity, liberty, justice, equality, and rule of law.

-locate, access, analyze, organize, and apply information about selected public issues—recognizing and explaining multiple points of view.

-practice forms of civic discussion and participation consistent with the ideals of citizens in a democratic republic.

Next Generation Science Standards

MS-ESS3-2.

Analyze and interpret data on natural hazards to forecast future catastrophic events and inform the development of technologies to mitigate their effects. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on how some natural hazards, such as volcanic eruptions and severe weather, are preceded by phenomena that allow for reliable predictions, but others, such as earthquakes, occur suddenly and with no notice, and thus are not yet predictable. Examples of natural hazards can be taken from interior processes (such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), surface processes (such as mass wasting and tsunamis), or severe weather events (such as hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods). Examples of data can include the locations, magnitudes, and frequencies of the natural hazards. Examples of technologies can be global (such as satellite systems to monitor hurricanes or forest fires) or local (such as building basements in tornado-prone regions or reservoirs to mitigate droughts).]

MS-ESS3-3.

Apply scientific principles to design a method for monitoring and minimizing a human impact on the environment.* [Clarification Statement: Examples of the design process include examining human environmental impacts, assessing the kinds of solutions that are feasible, and designing and evaluating solutions that could reduce that impact. Examples of human impacts can include water usage (such as the withdrawal of water from streams and aquifers or the construction of dams and levees), land usage (such as urban development, agriculture, or the removal of wetlands), and pollution (such as of the air, water, or land).]