Wildfires Out West

Wildfires Out West
https://vimeo.com/22913881

Climate Central

This video from ClimateCentral looks at the way climate conditions can affect vegetation in the West, and what influence this has on wildfires. Drought and rainfall can have very different wildfire outcomes, depending on vegetation type, extent, and location.

Video length 3:13 min.

Learn more about Teaching Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness»

See how this Video supports the Next Generation Science Standards»

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Middle School

Disciplinary Core Ideas: 6

MS-ESS2.D1: Weather and climate are influenced by interactions involving sunlight, the ocean, the atmosphere, ice, landforms, and living things. These interactions vary with latitude, altitude, and local and regional geography, all of which can affect oceanic and atmospheric flow patterns.

MS-ESS3.C1: Human activities have significantly altered the biosphere, sometimes damaging or destroying natural habitats and causing the extinction of other species. But changes to Earth’s environments can have different impacts (negative and positive) for different living things.

MS-ESS3.D1: Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities.

MS-LS2.C1: Ecosystems are dynamic in nature; their characteristics can vary over time. Disruptions to any physical or biological component of an ecosystem can lead to shifts in all its populations.

MS-LS2.C2: Biodiversity describes the variety of species found in Earth’s terrestrial and oceanic ecosystems. The completeness or integrity of an ecosystem’s biodiversity is often used as a measure of its health

MS-LS4.D1: Changes in biodiversity can influence humans’ resources, such as food, energy, and medicines, as well as ecosystem services that humans rely on—for example, water purification and recycling.

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High School

Disciplinary Core Ideas: 6

HS-ESS2.D1: The foundation for Earth’s global climate systems is the electromagnetic radiation from the sun, as well as its reflection, absorption, storage, and redistribution among the atmosphere, ocean, and land systems, and this energy’s re-radiation into space.

HS-ESS3.C1: The sustainability of human societies and the biodiversity that supports them requires responsible management of natural resources.

HS-ESS3.D1: Though the magnitudes of human impacts are greater than they have ever been, so too are human abilities to model, predict, and manage current and future impacts.

HS-LS2.C1: A complex set of interactions within an ecosystem can keep its numbers and types of organisms relatively constant over long periods of time under stable conditions. If a modest biological or physical disturbance to an ecosystem occurs, it may return to its more or less original status (i.e., the ecosystem is resilient), as opposed to becoming a very different ecosystem. Extreme fluctuations in conditions or the size of any population, however, can challenge the functioning of ecosystems in terms of resources and habitat availability.

HS-LS2.C2: Moreover, anthropogenic changes (induced by human activity) in the environment—including habitat destruction, pollution, introduction of invasive species, overexploitation, and climate change—can disrupt an ecosystem and threaten the survival of some species.

HS-LS4.D2: Biodiversity is increased by the formation of new species (speciation) and decreased by the loss of species (extinction).

Climate Literacy

This Video builds on the following concepts of Climate Literacy.

Click a topic below for supporting information, teaching ideas, and sample activities.

Notes From Our Reviewers The CLEAN collection is hand-picked and rigorously reviewed for scientific accuracy and classroom effectiveness. Read what our review team had to say about this resource below or learn more about how CLEAN reviews teaching materials
Teaching Tips | Science | Pedagogy | Technical Details

Teaching Tips

This video would augment any unit on climate and weather, the water cycle, and the ecology of wildfires. It can be used to set the stage for further exploration. For example, students could explore and identify how changes in climate conditions can affect the health and function of ecosystems, and their vulnerability to wildfires.

About the Science

Video discusses the increase of wildfires in the American West since 2006. The relationships among rainfall, drought, vegetation type, and the severity and location of wildfires are reviewed. The role of satellites in identifying wildfire location and vegetation profile is also discussed.
Comment from expert scientist: Note that green vegetation only shows potential for photosynthesis. The Nevada vegetation burns not when it is wet and green but in the summer after the rain when the landscape dries. The two ecosystems don't burn as a result of different processes but as a result of dry and hot conditions. The fact that the forest always has a high fuel load due to dense vegetation and the desert burns best during a wet year when vegetation grows does not mean that these are different.

About the Pedagogy

No supporting materials available.

Technical Details/Ease of Use

Excellent HD quality. Can be downloaded and viewed in different files - including mobile phones and original movie file.

Entered the Collection: December 2012 Last Reviewed: April 2016

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Middle School (see details)

Middle School

Disciplinary Core Ideas: 6

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High School

Disciplinary Core Ideas: 6

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