Lesson Plan by LM & JM

Fire Ecology Institute Lesson Plan Example

Recommended Unit Plans (Module Plans) Prior to Assessment Piece:

Illuminate:

·      Concept Map (Fire in the middle—impacts and ideas about fire around)

Do:

·      1—Two Sides of Fire Video with Video Sheet (include a CER in video sheet) [Engage]

·      2—Tree Cookies Lab from PLT [Investigation]

·      3—Tree Ring Graphing Activity (uses multiple tree information to graph relationships) [Investigation]

·      4—PBL with Interactive Classroom exercise on Tree ring development [PBL with Engineering Design Practices]

o   Entry Document = story about an old growth with new growth forest with extreme risk for fire in immediate future

o   Task = Students must come up with a fire adaptive plan for their community (landowner, business owner, forest ranger, fire station, national park, recreation, nature, etc.)

o   Constraints = Money allowed for fire mitigation, number of crew members to do fire mitigation, time allowed for mitigation, materials available, partnerships (mini-workshops about other communities)

o   Production = Create a visual tool that shows your communities fire mitigation plans.  Make sure to include your constraints and budget within your visual tool.  Vocab must be used.

o   Presentation = 3-5 minutes covering your visual tool and information

Expand:

·      Model Creation

·      Collecting Tree Cores and Interpreting

·      Collecting Tree Cookies and Interpreting

·      CER’s about their own environment (home, school, community)—Using Co-Wrap or ArcGIS or Fire Risk Meter

·      Risk Assessment (conversation with parents, community members, etc. to discuss risks and solutions)

Assessment:

·      See Below

Assessment Topic:

HS-LS1:  From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes

Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems

Content Standard (From NGSS):

LS2.A: Ecosystems have carrying capacities, which are limits to the numbers of organisms and populations they can support. These limits result from such factors as the availability of living and nonliving resources and from such challenges such as predation, competition, and disease. Organisms would have the capacity to produce populations of great size were it not for the fact that environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension affects the abundance (number of individuals) of species in any given ecosystem. (HS-LS2-1),(HS-LS2-2)

Breakdown & Clarify:

·      Carrying Capacities

·      Populations

·      Limiting Factors

·      Abiotic vs. Biotic

·      Resources

·      Ecosystems

Common misconceptions:

·      An environment can hold as many organisms as possible, there is no limit

·      Populations do not affect each other within an environment

·      There are no limits to what we use (resources)

·      Matter is neither created nor destroyed…so use, use, use, it will just be recycled back into the environment for use

·      Humans are not causing climate change through the use of resources, it is a natural climate trend change

·      Animals are the only organism that needs things (resources)

·      Animals and plants can just grow where ever we put them

Framework (based on the NGSS 4 levels of STEM—Investigation, CER, Engineering Design Practices, and PBL’s):

CER Variation #4

1.     Claim

2.     Evidence

A. Appropriate

B. Sufficient

       3.  Reasoning

A. Multiple components

       4.  Rebuttal

Learning Performance:

HS-LS2-1. Use mathematical and/or computational representations to support explanations of factors that affect carrying capacity of ecosystems at different scales.

HS-LS2-2. Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales.

Assessment Task:

 

(Use image similar to above image—must include a fire scar, tight rings, and far apart rings, bark, and be CLEAR)

1.     Using the tree sample above, write a scientific explanation that describes the climate of the tree during its lifetime.

Review the Assessment Task:

1.     Is the knowledge needed to correctly respond to the task?

a.     Yes, knowledge of the ideas of the learning goal is needed to answer this question. It is unlikely that students will get this question correct without having the knowledge in this learning goal.

2.     Is the knowledge enough by itself to correctly respond to the task or is additional knowledge needed?

a.     No, knowledge of both the content and scientific explanations is needed. In addition, students would need to be able to interpret tree core samples prior to assessment.

3.     Is the assessment task and context likely to be comprehensible to students?

a.     Yes, the item is clear and straightforward. It does not require additional knowledge of the context.

Rubric to grade CER answer:

SCORE	CLAIM	EVIDENCE	REASONING	REBUTTAL
0	No claim made	No evidence or only inappropriate evidence or vague evidence	I claim the tree is old and dead.	No further explanation or alternative explanations given.
1	Wrong information identified for the climate of the tree during its lifetime.	Provides 1 of the following pieces of evidence: ·      Fire Scar ·      Growth Depth ·      Tight Rings ·      Spaced Rings ·      Insect Patterning ·      Thick or Thin Bark ·      Drought Pattern ·      Rainy Pattern ·      Climate Patterns May also include inappropriate evidence.	I claim that the tree has a long life history that included a drought because there are areas with tight tree rings meaning drought.	Only able to use information from the current tree sample.
2	Designates correct reasons for the climate of the tree during its lifetime.	Provides 2 of the following pieces of evidence: ·      Fire Scar ·      Growth Depth ·      Tight Rings ·      Spaced Rings ·      Insect Patterning ·      Thick or Thin Bark ·      Drought Pattern ·      Rainy Pattern ·      Climate Patterns May also include inappropriate evidence.	I claim that the tree has a long life history that included a drought and long periods of growth because there are areas with tight tree rings meaning drought, and areas with large spacing between tree rings meaning wet seasons and large growth.	Provides 1 alternative evidence and reasoning from the following in their rebuttal as additional evidence of the climate of the tree during its lifetime: ·      Earth’s history (climate change) ·      Limiting factors ·      Concepts such as: drought, growth vs. dormant, dry vs. wet year, stress, fire scars, etc. ·      Climate patterns ·      Parts of a tree (heartwood, sapwood, cambium, pith, bark) ·      Depths of bark as protection (adaptations) ·      Ecosystem it came from ·      Relationships to other tree types (similar and different) ·      Population Density (growth is dependent on this too) ·      Etc.
3		Provides 3 or more of the following pieces of evidence: ·      Fire Scar ·      Growth Depth ·      Tight Rings ·      Spaced Rings ·      Insect Patterning ·      Thick or Thin Bark ·      Drought Pattern ·      Rainy Pattern ·      Climate Patterns .It does not include any inappropriate evidence.	I claim that the tree has a long life history that included a fire, drought, and long periods of growth because there is a fire scar, areas with tight tree rings meaning drought, and areas with large spacing between tree rings meaning wet seasons and large growth.	Provides 2 alternative evidence and reasoning from the following in their rebuttal as additional evidence of the climate of the tree during its lifetime: ·      Earth’s history (climate change) ·      Limiting factors ·      Concepts such as: drought, growth vs. dormant, dry vs. wet year, stress, fire scars, etc. ·      Climate patterns ·      Parts of a tree (heartwood, sapwood, cambium, pith, bark) ·      Depths of bark as protection (adaptations) ·      Ecosystem it came from ·      Relationships to other tree types (similar and different) ·      Population Density (growth is dependent on this too) ·      Etc.
4			I claim that the tree has a long life history that included a fire, drought, insect stress and long periods of growth because there is a fire scar, areas with tight tree rings meaning drought, tunneling from the outside of the tree in, and areas with large spacing between tree rings meaning wet seasons and large growth.	Provides 3 alternative evidence and reasoning from the following in their rebuttal as additional evidence of the climate of the tree during its lifetime: ·      Earth’s history (climate change) ·      Limiting factors ·      Concepts such as: drought, growth vs. dormant, dry vs. wet year, stress, fire scars, etc. ·      Climate patterns ·      Parts of a tree (heartwood, sapwood, cambium, pith, bark) ·      Depths of bark as protection (adaptations) ·      Ecosystem it came from ·      Relationships to other tree types (similar and different) ·      Population Density (growth is dependent on this too) ·      Etc.
5			I claim that the tree has a long life history that included a fire, drought, insect stress, thick bark, and long periods of growth because there is a fire scar, areas with tight tree rings meaning drought, tunneling from the outside of the tree in which is a sign of insects, thick bark which probably allowed it to survive the fire, and areas with large spacing between tree rings meaning wet seasons and large growth.	Provides 3 or more alternative evidence and reasoning from the following in their rebuttal as additional evidence of the climate of the tree during its lifetime: ·      Earth’s history (climate change) ·      Limiting factors ·      Concepts such as: drought, growth vs. dormant, dry vs. wet year, stress, fire scars, etc. ·      Climate patterns ·      Parts of a tree (heartwood, sapwood, cambium, pith, bark) ·      Depths of bark as protection (adaptations) ·      Ecosystem it came from ·      Relationships to other tree types (similar and different) ·      Population Density (growth is dependent on this too) ·      Etc.

Lesson Plan by ML

10^th grade Biology:  2-3 week unit in Ecology segment of the semester

Part 1:  PRE-TEST & BUILD BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE

A)   Students will take the “Forests of the World Opinionaire” from Activity 1: Making the Global Connection (on PLT website)

B)   Conduct “Fire Feelings” activity from “Yellowstone Fire Ecology Booklet” (presented at 2013  Institute): students analyze various beliefs/ perspectives on fire

Part 2: FIELD STUDIES USING GPS (field trip to appropriate study site)

A)   Data Collection/ Observations:

      1) Have students record observations for a north-facing slope and a south-facing                            slope in regards to:

·      soil composition, temperature, % shade cover

Ø  Discuss nutrient cycling

Ø  Discuss causes and impacts of slope aspect

·      flora and fauna à ID using field guides such as the “Colorado Native Tree Guide” [handed out at 2013 Institute], record data on “Wildlife Inventory Sheets” (see FEI 2013 disc)

Ø  Discuss food chains, relationships between living things (i.e. predator-prey, parasitism, symbiosis)

Ø  Discuss native and invasive species

2) Record GPS data for each location observed (MotionX GPS app for smart phones: $0.99)

      3) If granted permission to investigate a burn site, conduct Hydrophobic Soils Lab            

            provided by UCCS professor Eric Billmeyer

B)    Assessment:

      1) GROUP WORK: Use www.arcgis.com to create a “Trip Story” that maps GPS locations                observed, including attached photos & attributes of each location

      2) INDIVIDUAL WORK:  Compose a conclusion using “constructed sentences”: 

                 “Prior to formal experimentation, I believed that _______ because _________.              After building background knowledge, I know that common tree species in our area             include ______________.  I also know that slope aspect is due to ______________.  I             hypothesized that if ______________, then ____________.  My data shows that slope             aspect influences____________.  Conclusions from this experiment lead me to believe             that slope aspect will influence a wild fire by _____________.”

Part 3:  FIRE CONNECTION

A)   Introduction:

1)    Science Nation video:  Lord of the Tree Rings (2:29 minutes on youtube)- intro dendrochronology and paleodendroclimatology

B)   Experimentation:

1)    Online activity:  determine relationships between tree ring size and climate data à register on Upper South Platte Service Learning Page: http://learn.uppersouthplatte.org/

2)    “Every Tree for Itself” Activity #27 in Pre K-8^th grade Guide:  variables affecting tree growth, competition for resources

3)    “Living with Fire” Activity #81 in Pre K-8^th grade Guide:  Fire Triangle demo with candle & jar, WUI experiment investigating flammability of various fuels

·      Homework:  use Risk Meter Wheel (FEI 2013 disc) to assess home fire risk

4)    “Matchstick Forest” Activity (See FEI 2013 disc)

C)   Assessment: 

1)    GROUP WORK:  

·      Create a fire survey to assess the public’s understanding of and sensitivity to fire topics, including WUI, defensible space, & prescribed burning

·      create a collaborative poster documenting results of survey and steps/suggestions for informing public about effectively living with fire

2)    INDIVIDUAL WORK: “Reporting the Blaze” Activity from “Yellowstone Fire Ecology Booklet” (presented at 2013 Institute):  rewrite a fire report in a less negative way when reporting fire impacts

D)   Extension:

1)    “Water Wonders” Activity #44 in Pre K-8^th grade guide:  Water cycle “journey” activity & story reflection,  test variables affecting stream flow and run-off using stream tables