Fire Ecology of Nevada

In this unit, students will complete investigations to predict wildfire risk, including hands-on modeling and use of gamified simulation. Students will investigate wildfire-exposed soil to understand how wildfires can lead to post-fire debris flow (mudslides). Students will analyze data collected by local scientists to make a claim about the cheatgrass-fire cycle, and consider mitigation strategies that are being adopted by local agencies to address the cheatgrass-fire cycle.  

Hands-on Activities: 

• Demonstration of how fuel load affects fire intensity using toothpicks and cotton balls
• Investigation of the hydrophobicity of wildfire-exposed soil
• Erosion/deposition modeling for wildfire-exposed soil
• Use tokens on a game board to represent how cheatgrass has affected the fire regime of the sagebrush ecosystem

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS):

MS-ESS3-2 •  MS-ESS2-2 •  MS-LS2-4  • MS-LS2-5