Analyzing the Rise of U.S. Wildfires

• In this lesson, students will learn about the effects of rising temperatures on forests, such as the Redwood forest, and wildfires, complete a graphing exercise, answer questions, and have a class discussion about the topics presented.
• The lesson plan contains a teacher guide, student worksheet, data tables, article, and links to additional information.
  

Positives

• The connection between temperature and acres burned will slowly be revealed as students create the graph.
  
• The data tables are provided in Excel and Google Sheets.
  

Additional Prerequisites

• The y-axis on the right side is missing 0°F. That might be tricky for some students. Explain that 0° is actually there. It is simply not labeled.
• Feel free to extend the data to include more recent years (2019 and on). Use NOAA for temperatures and NIFC for acres burned.
• Temperature anomalies must always use a baseline value. The baseline used in this data from NOAA is the mean temperature from 1901-2000. Note that other mean temperature ranges may also be used, such as the 1950-1980 mean or the mean temperature prior to the Industrial Revolution.
  
• Teachers must create a free account to access the materials.
  

Differentiation

• It may be useful to group students of mixed ability so they can assist one another while creating their graphs.
• Students can choose a color and shape for each point they plot on the map. The temperature anomaly uses a black triangle. Students can choose something like a red circle or green square to plot acres burned.
• Other resources about this topic include this resource about climate feedbacks and wildfires, this wildfire activity about biomass loss, and this NASA resource about the effects of climate change.
  

Rising mean temperatures cause pine beetles to infest on trees thereby causing tree dryness and loss, which in turn accelerates the occurrence of wildfires. This resource explores the trend of rising temperatures and wildfire events in the Western part of the USA. It is suitable for students to examine these relationships and the causal factors. Thus, the resource is recommended.