Event-Based
Science is a new way to teach middle school science. It is an
award-winning, standards-based program in which newsworthy events
establish the relevance of science topics; authentic tasks create the
need-to-know more about those topics; and lively interviews,
photographs, Web pages, and inquiry-based science activities create a
desire to know more about those topics.
Fire! is an Event-Based Science module about
the nature of fire. Fire! uses the fires that struck
Yellowstone National Park in the summer of 1988 to establish the
context for exploring concepts related to the chemical nature of fire
and the role of fire in nature. The task in Fire! places
students in the roles of fire experts who are designing an
environmental-education camp. Students will acquire then use their
knowledge of the components of fire, fire-retardant materials,
extinguishing and escaping fire, factors that influence the spread of
forest fires, and regrowth following a forest fire.
Between 1995 and 2017 the Event-Based
Science website was available
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As with all Event-Based
Science modules, much of the information that students need is provided
in the pages of Fire!. However, more information is needed.
Information about current fires will add to the authenticity of your
study. Information about real environmental camps will also add to the
authenticity of their products.
Below are some World-Wide
Web sites where additional information is available. Click on the
highlighted words and be linked with helpful sites.
This great picture was taken
in Bitterroot National Forest in Montana on August 6, 2000. The
photographer, John McColgan, is a fire behavior analyst from Fairbanks,
Alaska. Because he was working at the time he took the picture he
cannot profit from it; however, he feels the picture is a
once-in-a-lifetime shot and should be shared.
A "pdf" file containing web
sites, books, material lists, and correlations with National Science
Education Standards.
Use the BACK
button in your browser to return to this page.
On page 10 of the Student
Edition of Fire! there is an error. There are some extraneous
words that appear inside the "fire triangle" diagram in column one. The
words "is poisonous because it" DO NOT BELONG.
Burn
Recovery in Yellowstone This site
has an excellent annimation that uses satellite images to show the
recovery of vegetation since the 1988 fires.
Jennings
Environmental Education CenterJennings offers a full range of
educational programs. A unique attraction at the center is its relict
prairie, which includes the spectacular and well-known prairie flower,
the blazing star. The relict prairie ecosystem is rare in Pennsylvania.