Wildfire Season
In this article, it is discussed that wildfires are starting to take over vast amounts of acres in Northern California. My lesson would involve discussing this article with the class together first. In the discussion, we would talk about the different ways this fire would affect the area around it. I would then separate them into research groups, depending on class size, and have them look up ways firefighters and the US Forest Service prevent wildfires. They should write up at least a full page of research with sources included within classroom time. The questions they may want to ask themselves while doing their research would be “why did this fire happen?” and “what preventative measure could be taken to avoid major wildfires?”. They could also ask the optional question of “how bad have wildfires affected the state of California?” to get a better outlook on the situation.
Formative Assessment: Open discussion is the way I think is best for determining where everyone is the classroom is at in terms of their knowledge of the subject. As the students demonstrate their knowledge, I as the teacher will look to see who is the most to least proficient and pair them all together. This assessment will help the research assignment much more effective for all students.
Grand Challenge: The grand challenge for this article would be that there seems to be a major issue with the continues and widespread threat of wildfires in California. The challenge seems to be how can officials find a better way to prevent and prepare for such a disaster.
Standards:
Montana Standards for Social Studies
Content Standard 1-Students access, synthesize, and evaluate information to communicate and apply social studies knowledge to real world situations
Asking certain questions on why the current wildfire situation in Northern California is so rampant and apply preventative measure based on the research of successful past ones
Grades 9–12
