Understanding Forest Fires: The Fire Triangle and Ecology | Exams Construction

FOREST SERVICE MESSAGES

A: The Forest Service applies the fundamental principles of

science and ecology in order to better understand and

manage forest ecosystems.

B: People are part of nature, and their actions have effects

on the land.

A-5: The study of the science of fire and its behavior is

important.

C-3: Forest conditions now are not natural or healthy.

C-4: Because of unnaturally dense conditions, our forests are

at risk for destructive wildland fires, insect infestations

and diseases.

ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Arizona Standards

HEALTH

1CH-F5: Describe how environmental health and personal

health are related

2CH-F7: Identify when and how to seek emergency medical

assistance and shelter

PO 1: Demonstrate how to contact parents and/or

emergency services in emergency situations

PO 2: Recall emergency numbers

SOCIAL STUDIES

3SS-F2: Identify natural and human characteristics of

places and how people interact with and modify their

environment, with emphasis on:

PO 6: the ways in which people have used and modified

resources in the local region, including dam

construction, building roads, building cities, and raising

crops

SCIENCE

2SC-F3: Understand that science involves asking and

answering questions and comparing the results to what

is already known

PO 1: Explain how asking and answering questions are part

of the process of a scientific investigation

PO 2: Compare prior knowledge to the results of a scientific

investigation

4SC-F1: Describe and explain cause-and-effect relationships

in living systems

PO 1: Identify cause-and-effect relationships in living

systems

FIRE ECOLOGY CURRICULUM

USDA Forest Service Southwestern Region

Grade: Second

Title: The Fire Triangle

SecondGrade

The Fire

Triangle

INTRODUCTION

Hi kids! My name is _________________________, and I

work for the ___________ National Forest. We’re going to

do some neat stuff today, and I want everyone to get involved!

We’ll be learning about fires, about our forest, and about how

people can change the forest.

LESSON

I want to start by asking you a question – how are fires started?

(The kids will probably have a lot of answers such as matches,

campfires, etc. If they only mention human-caused ways, ask

them about how nature can start fires – examples include

lightning and volcanoes.) So, people and nature can start fires.

Now, who can tell me the three things that are needed for a fire

to burn?

First, you need something to burn – we call this fuel. (Have a

small limb and a piece of paper to show them.) Can both of

these things burn? Yes! So, they are both fuels.

Then, you need something hot to get the fire going. (Have

matches and a cardboard cutout of a lightning bolt to show the

Forest Service employee teaches students

about the fire triangle.

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FOREST SERVICE MESSAGES

A: The Forest Service applies the fundamental principles of science and ecology in order to better understand and manage forest ecosystems. B: People are part of nature, and their actions have effects on the land. A-5: The study of the science of fire and its behavior is important. C-3: Forest conditions now are not natural or healthy. C-4: Because of unnaturally dense conditions, our forests are at risk for destructive wildland fires, insect infestations and diseases.

ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Arizona Standards

HEALTH

1CH-F5: Describe how environmental health and personal health are related 2CH-F7: Identify when and how to seek emergency medical assistance and shelter PO 1: Demonstrate how to contact parents and/or emergency services in emergency situations PO 2: Recall emergency numbers

SOCIAL STUDIES

3SS-F2: Identify natural and human characteristics of places and how people interact with and modify their environment, with emphasis on: PO 6: the ways in which people have used and modified resources in the local region, including dam construction, building roads, building cities, and raising crops

SCIENCE

2SC-F3: Understand that science involves asking and answering questions and comparing the results to what is already known PO 1: Explain how asking and answering questions are part of the process of a scientific investigation PO 2: Compare prior knowledge to the results of a scientific investigation 4SC-F1: Describe and explain cause-and-effect relationships in living systems PO 1: Identify cause-and-effect relationships in living systems FIRE ECOLOGY CURRICULUM

USDA Forest Service Southwestern Region

Grade: Second

Title: The Fire Triangle

Second Grade

The Fire

Triangle

INTRODUCTION

Hi kids! My name is _________________________, and I

work for the ___________ National Forest. We’re going to

do some neat stuff today, and I want everyone to get involved!

We’ll be learning about fires, about our forest, and about how

people can change the forest.

LESSON

I want to start by asking you a question – how are fires started?

(The kids will probably have a lot of answers such as matches,

campfires, etc. If they only mention human-caused ways, ask

them about how nature can start fires – examples include

lightning and volcanoes.) So, people and nature can start fires.

Now, who can tell me the three things that are needed for a fire

to burn?

First, you need something to burn – we call this fuel. (Have a

small limb and a piece of paper to show them.) Can both of

these things burn? Yes! So, they are both fuels.

Then, you need something hot to get the fire going. (Have

matches and a cardboard cutout of a lightning bolt to show the

Forest Service employee teaches students

about the fire triangle.

PO 2: Explain cause-and-effect relationships in living systems 4SC-F7: Explain the interaction of living and non-living components within ecosystems PO 1: Identify living components within ecosystems PO 2: Identify non-living components within ecosystems PO 3: Describe the interaction among living and non-living components in an ecosystem 5SC-F2: Demonstrate that light, heat, motion, magnetism and sound can cause changes PO 2: Demonstrate that heat can cause change 6SC-F5: Identify major features of natural processes and forces that shape the earth’s surface, including weathering and volcanic activity PO 1: Identify natural forces (e.g., water, ice, wind) that shape the earth’s surface PO 3: Identify natural processes (e.g., earthquake, floods, volcanic eruptions) that rapidly shape the earth’s surface 6SC-F6: Describe natural events and how humans are affected by them PO 1: Identify natural events that affect humans PO 2: Explain how natural events impact human life New Mexico Standards

HEALTH

Standard 1: Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention.

4. Students will describe how physical, social, and emotional environments influence personal health. Standard 2: Students will demonstrate the ability to access valid health information and health promoting products and services. 4. Students will demonstrate the ability to locate school and community health helpers.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Strand: Geography

Content Standard II: Students understand how physical, natural, and cultural processes influence where people live, the ways in which people live, and how societies interact with one another and their environments. K-4 Benchmark II-B: Distinguish between natural and human characteristics of places and use this knowledge to define regions, their relationships with other regions, and patterns of change. Grade 2 Performance Standards

Describe how climate, natural resources, and natural hazards affect activities and settlement patterns.
Explain how people depend on the environment and

kids. Light the match.) These are both hot, right? So, both of

these can be the heat that is needed to start a fire.

Finally, the third thing that you

need is oxygen. Oxygen is in

the air all around us (wave your

arms all around).

So, if you need all of these things

for a fire to burn, how do you

put a fire out? You only need

to take away one of these three

things, and the fire will go out.

Now, I will show you how this

works.

DEMONSTRATION

(Take out the wooden “Fire

Triangle” and put it on a table.

Get the glass jar with a lid out

and place a small, lighted birthday candle in the jar. Mount it

in a dab of modeling clay. Seal the jar with the lid to cut off the

supply of oxygen. The flame will go out.)

What just happened? That’s right! The flame used up all of

the oxygen that was available in the jar, so the fire went out.

Remember, you only need to take away one of the three parts

of the triangle for a fire to no longer be able to burn.

Forest Service employee performs some experiments

to show students what happens when part of the fire

triangle is removed.

There are three things

that have to be present

for any fire to burn

- heat, fuel and oxygen.

If any one of these things

is removed, the fire will

go out.

Alright, I want everyone to get up and

stretch now because we’re going to play a

game called Wildfire Tag! This will show

you how fires burn trees, how the trees

can be protected from fire, and how the

trees grow back. Are you ready?

Wildfire Tag Instructions:

1. Choose one student to become the wildfire that burns

the trees. He or she wears a red headband. Give them a

long, red rope or long piece of red flagging.

2. Choose four students to be Smokey Bear rangers. They

wear green headbands. Give each ranger a long, green

rope or long piece of green flagging to hold.

3. The remaining students pretend to be trees. They scatter

to different parts of the room and stand still.

4. The Smokey Bear rangers gather around the wildfire in

the middle of the room.

5. The game starts when the teacher/presenter yells “Fire!”

Then, the wildfire runs to tag the trees. When a tree has

been tagged, he/she holds onto the red rope/flagging

and becomes part of the wildfire, and the two of them

run to tag another tree. Thus, the fire builds and

spreads with more and more “trees” holding onto the

rope or flagging.

6. At the same time, the Smokey Bear rangers run to

protect the trees by tagging them and

having them hold onto the green rope/

flagging. They can protect only trees

that have not yet caught on fire.

7. When a tree is tagged by a Smokey Bear

ranger, it joins the other protected

trees to make a “fire break” (line

of protection that the fire cannot

penetrate). In reality, this could be

a strip of wet or bare earth. (The

protected trees are all holding onto the

green rope/flagging.)

8. When the fire runs out of fuel, it burns

out. Wildfire students drop the red

rope/flagging and fall to the ground.

9. Slowly, the wildfire students rise up

from the ground and stretch out their arms. This is to

show that new trees will grow in the soil that has been

enriched by wildfire. Once again, there is a forest.

10. Before dismissing the group, discuss the meaning of

Smokey Bear’s slogan “Only you can prevent forest

fires.”

FOREST SERVICE CONSERVATION EDUCATION LEARNER GUIDELINES Program title: The Fire Triangle Target audience: Second Grade Primary topic: The three things every fire needs to burn. Length of program: 1 hour Setting: indoors or outdoors

Guidelines addressed are referenced here:

K-

I. Questioning and Analysis Skills A1, A2, B2, F II. Knowledge of Environmental Processes and Systems 1.

**2. C2, D

A1, A2, C III. Skills for Understanding and Addressing Environmental Issues

IV. Personal and Civic Responsibility**

LESSON CONTINUED

What did you learn from that game? What did the fire do to the trees? Yes! The fire burned some of the trees but

not all of them, right? And, new, healthy trees started to grow because they had more room and because the soil

had been enriched with nutrients by the wildfire. How were some of the trees saved from the fire? Right! By the

Smokey Bear Rangers. Way to go Rangers, good job! Good job everyone!

CLOSING

I really enjoyed helping you learn how fires burn and how to protect our forest. Now I’m going to give you a really

fun handout that you can work on. You can do the coloring and then have someone from your family or your

teacher read the words with you!

(For Kaibab National Forest only: I’m also going to pass out the Kaibab National Forest Junior Naturalist quiz.

To become a Junior Naturalist, you need to have attended a Forest Service program – which you did today! – and

then complete this quiz and help to keep the environment clean by picking up litter you find. It is that easy! If

you become a Junior Naturalist, we will give you a certificate and a cool patch to wear. Show them the certificate

and the patch. When you have completed your quiz, you can turn it into your teacher. Then, he/she can send

them into us, and we’ll be sure to get a certificate and patch to you. The only chances you get to become a Junior

Naturalist are in the second and the fifth grades, so good luck!)

HANDOUT

“Smokey’s Fire Safety Tips Learning and Coloring Book” (one per student)

( Kaibab National Forest only: Kaibab National Forest Junior Naturalist Quiz, Grades 1-3; one per student)

SUPPLIES

Small tree limb
Piece of paper
Matches
Cardboard cutout of lightning bolt
Wooden fire triangle
Glass jar with lid
Small, birthday candles
Model clay
Water
Red headband (one)
Long, red rope or long piece of red flagging
Green headbands (four)
Long, green rope or long piece of green flagging (four)
“Smokey’s Fire Safety Tips Learning and Coloring Book” (one per student)
- Available through Syndistar Publishing, 1-800-841-9532; http://www.syndistar.com/media/activity_books/fire/prevention/pbfp06.html
- Children learn valuable match safety rules from Smokey and his lovable Animal Fire Patrol. This coloring

book correlates with the Smokey’s Fire Safety Tips video – carrying the same story and message. Students

are able to bring important prevention messages with them so they are sure to remember what they learned.

Kaibab National Forest only:

Kaibab National Forest Junior Naturalist Quiz, Grades 1-3 (one per student)
Junior Naturalist patch (one)
Junior Naturalist certificate (one)

Understanding Forest Fires: The Fire Triangle and Ecology, Exams of Construction

Related documents

Partial preview of the text

Download Understanding Forest Fires: The Fire Triangle and Ecology and more Exams Construction in PDF only on Docsity!

FOREST SERVICE MESSAGES

ACADEMIC STANDARDS

Arizona Standards

HEALTH

SOCIAL STUDIES

SCIENCE

USDA Forest Service Southwestern Region

Grade: Second

Title: The Fire Triangle

Second Grade

The Fire

Triangle

Hi kids! My name is _________________________, and I

work for the ___________ National Forest. We’re going to

do some neat stuff today, and I want everyone to get involved!

We’ll be learning about fires, about our forest, and about how

people can change the forest.

I want to start by asking you a question – how are fires started?

(The kids will probably have a lot of answers such as matches,

campfires, etc. If they only mention human-caused ways, ask

them about how nature can start fires – examples include

lightning and volcanoes.) So, people and nature can start fires.

Now, who can tell me the three things that are needed for a fire

to burn?

First, you need something to burn – we call this fuel. (Have a

small limb and a piece of paper to show them.) Can both of

these things burn? Yes! So, they are both fuels.

Then, you need something hot to get the fire going. (Have

matches and a cardboard cutout of a lightning bolt to show the

Forest Service employee teaches students

about the fire triangle.

HEALTH

SOCIAL STUDIES

Strand: Geography

kids. Light the match.) These are both hot, right? So, both of

these can be the heat that is needed to start a fire.

Finally, the third thing that you

need is oxygen. Oxygen is in

the air all around us (wave your

arms all around).

So, if you need all of these things

for a fire to burn, how do you

put a fire out? You only need

to take away one of these three

things, and the fire will go out.

Now, I will show you how this

works.

(Take out the wooden “Fire

Triangle” and put it on a table.

Get the glass jar with a lid out

and place a small, lighted birthday candle in the jar. Mount it

in a dab of modeling clay. Seal the jar with the lid to cut off the

supply of oxygen. The flame will go out.)

What just happened? That’s right! The flame used up all of

the oxygen that was available in the jar, so the fire went out.

Remember, you only need to take away one of the three parts

of the triangle for a fire to no longer be able to burn.

Forest Service employee performs some experiments

to show students what happens when part of the fire

triangle is removed.

There are three things

that have to be present

for any fire to burn

If any one of these things

is removed, the fire will

go out.

Alright, I want everyone to get up and

stretch now because we’re going to play a

game called Wildfire Tag! This will show

you how fires burn trees, how the trees

can be protected from fire, and how the

trees grow back. Are you ready?

Wildfire Tag Instructions:

1. Choose one student to become the wildfire that burns

the trees. He or she wears a red headband. Give them a

long, red rope or long piece of red flagging.