Wildfire Ecology curriculum
Santa Monica Mountains N.R.A. Parks as Classrooms

Wildfire!   Out of control, burning and scorching everything in its path.

Each fall this scene plays out on television screens throughout Southern California. To watch the pictures and listen to the reports these fires are disasters to man and nature.

But are they?

Photo

The following exercises look at wildfire components and effects. Are there ways to stop the "destruction"? Ways to lessen or reduce the impact on manmade structures? Should we put out all wildfires? Does wildfire have a place in the Chaparral Biome?

For students studying wildfire in other parts of the world, see if there are any comparisons between wildfires in Southern California and where you live.

The following activities have been developed so that you can measure and establish baseline data and if a fire does occur, measure the effects, of wildfire anywhere on the globe!

Student Activities 

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