Wildland Fire Education

Project Learning Tree and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in cooperation with the National Interagency Fire Center have partnered to provide joint educator workshops in wildland fire education. The workshops use selected activities from the PLT PreK-8 and Secondary Modules, as well as a variety of supplemental fire education materials developed by the BLM and other federal agencies, including the popular "Burning Issues" CD/DVD produced by the Science Education Department of Florida State University. In addition, this partnership has also sponsored special GreenWorks! grants designed to engage students directly in community service programs which focus on wildland fire prevention, safety, and restoration.

Burning Issues CD/DVD

Burning Issues helps middle and high school students learn about the role of fire in ecosystems and the use of fire to manage natural areas. The program challenges users to learn about prescribed burns, wildland fire suppression, the relationships between fire and invasive plant species and how to build "firewise" homes. The culmination activity requires users to put what they have learned to work when they find themselves in the Fire Command Center and a wildland fire is reported. Students must make decisions about controlling, suppressing or letting different types of wildland fire burn themselves out.

The dual-platform CD/DVD contains:

  • Over 30 minutes of dynamic video;
  • Four EcoTours (panoramas of southern pine, shrub/steppe, ponderosa pine, prairie and chaparral ecosystems);
  • An interactive field guide containing more than 300 slides to aid students in learning about animals, plants and the roles of fire featured in the EcoTours;
  • Four EcoVentures (interactive on-line activities);
  • Interviews from National Interagency Fire Center scientists to aid students in meeting the EcoVentures challenges;
  • A field notebook for students to record their observations and data from each EcoVenture;
  • A web link to the FireWise Web site.

Fire Resources

 

Visit the Resources section of our web site for wildland fire activity adapations.