This resource is a part of the Climate Science and Fire Traveling Trunk

Telling the Story of Fire

Overview

To use storytelling to enhance students’ learning about wildfire in California. In many ways, the story of humankind can be told alongside the story of fire. It is central to many of our cultural stories, from indigenous creation stories, to mythology like the phoenix or eternal flames. Knowledge of fire allowed our early ancestors to survive, to cook, to hunt, and to move through the land. We are tied to fire in many ways, culturally, spiritually, physically.

Activity Type:

Lesson

Target Grade Level:

K-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12

Estimated Duration:

Varies

Topics:

Fire

Possible Connections to NGSS

Performance Expectations

K-ESS3-3: Communicate solutions that will reduce the impact of humans on the land, water, air, and/or other living things in the local environment.

K-ESS3-1: Use a model to represent the relationship between the needs of different plants and animals (including humans) and the places they live.

K-LS1-1: Use observations to describe patterns of what plants, animals and humans need to survive.

K-2-ETS1-1: Ask questions, make observations, and gather information about a situation people want to change to define a simple problem that can be solved through the development of a new or improved object or tool.

2-PS1-4: Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.

4-PS3-2: Make observations to provide evidence that energy can be transferred from place to place by sound, light, heat, and electric currents.

4-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information to describe that energy and fuels are derived from natural resources and their uses affect the environment.

5-ESS3-1: Combine and obtain information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect Earth’s resources and environment.

MS-LS2-4: Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.

HS-LS4-5: Evaluate the evidence supporting claims that changes in environmental conditions may result in (1) increases in the number of individuals of some species, (2) the emergence of new species over time, and (3) the extinction of other species.

HS-ESS3-1: Construct an explanation based on evidence for how the availability of natural resources, occurrence of natural hazards, and changes in climate have influenced human activity.