Plumas Unified School District (PUSD) science teachers are using a new fire science curriculum to ignite students’ passion for science. The Sierra Nevada Fireworks curriculum about the science of wildland fire was developed as a collaboration among PUSD, Missoula Fire Sciences Laboratory (of the USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station), and the Plumas National Forest. While the curriculum for the Sierra Nevada is brand new, many activities were adapted from the original FireWorks Educational Program, published in 2000.
The new curriculum has been pilot-tested in many science classes and is now available for free online at https://www.frames.gov/fireworks/curriculum/sierra-nevada. Many activities require associated materials such as posters, hardware, and plant specimens. Digital materials can be downloaded and printed from the website, while other materials are available in FireWorks trunks. Trunks of materials have been provided to teachers at PUSD school sites.
FireWorks is a valuable tool to all educators, interpreters, and fire prevention specialists. Activities provide students with interactive, hands-on materials to study wildland fire and local ecology. Many of the activities are applicable wherever wildland fires occur, however, many are specialized for the Sierra Nevada.
Rob Wade, PUSD outdoor education has this to say about FireWorks, “It has been a great experience working with the team during the past couple of years. They really have transformed this idea into a meaningful, relevant curriculum for our teachers. We couldn’t be more pleased and are excited to integrate FireWorks district-wide this year.”
See the Sierra Nevada FireWorks brochure for more information or contact Rob Wade, rwade@pcoe.k12.ca.us or Ilana Abrahamson, ilanalabrahamson@fs.fed.us.
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