Wildfire is a global reality, and with the onset of climate change, the number of yearly wildfire is increasing. The impacts range from the immediate and tangible to the delayed and less obvious. In this activity, students assess wildfires using remote sensing imagery.
More Lessons from the Sky is pleased to spotlight this lesson develop by Natasha Stavros at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The original problem set and all of its linked resources can be found at this URL: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/teach/activity/fired-up-over-math-studying-wildfires-from-space/.
The lesson addresses Next Generation Science Standards for grades 4 and 9-12 and Common Core State Standards for Mathematics in grades 3-12.
| Relevant Disciplines: | Science, Mathematics, Geography |
| Grade Level: | 3-12 |
| Adaptable to Other Grades: | Yes |
| Time Required (class periods): | 1-2 class periods |
| Prerequisites: | None |
| Additional Resources Available: | No |
Next Generation Science Standards addressed in this lesson:
4-ESS2-2
HS-ESS2-2
HS-ESS3-6
| Lesson Resources for Wildfires from Space | |
| File Type/Link | Description |
| ZIP File | King Fire (2014), Sand Fire (2016): true & false color OLI images (JPG), progression maps (PDF), 12.6MB |
| ZIP File | Soberanes Fire (2016), Station Fire (2009): true & false color MODIS images (JPG), progression maps (PDF), 1.6MB |