Bush Fires

Bushfires are an important and devastating part of Australian summers as the hot, dry and windy weather causes them to occur and spread incredibly quickly (Disaster Resilience Education for Schools (DRES, 2011). Bushfires can be caused deliberately or accidently such as by leaving a fire unattended or having an open fire on a windy day (DRES, 2011). Sometimes bushfires can be quickly and easily controlled, but other times they spread too quickly and this can lead to horrific consequences such as loss of lives and homes (DRES, 2011).

Your task will be to create a blog post, using www.wordpress.com, which describes the impacts bushfires can have on the environment. You must use information provided on the effects of a bushfire that occurred in the past to emphasise to your audience the deadly impacts a bushfire can have.

You must work through each of the activities in this webquest in order to develop your blog.

Your blog must not be longer than 60 words (excluding titles) but can include as much visual and multimedia (videos, images, word clouds, brainstorming maps, etc.) as you like.

Once you have completed your blog post, you must provide one of your peers with feedback on the effectiveness of their blog using the peer-rubric found under the ‘Evaluation’ tab. 

Activity 1:

Download and fill in the ‘Know’ and ‘Want to know’ sections of the KWHL chart. Try to answer these questions as you fill in the chart.

https://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/KWL.chart.html 

What is a bushfire?

What are the causes?

How can we prevent bushfires?

How do different season impact on bushfires?

How do bushfires differ in each Australian state?

What fuels a bushfire?

Does moisture impact?

Do hills or large flat areas impact on bushfires?

Activity 2:

Using your KWHL as a starting point, brainstorm words that you think describe a bush fire and the impact that they have on the environment and community.

Use your brainstormed words to create a Tagxedo to show what you know about bush fires.

Tagxedo Instructions

Activity 3:

Now it is time to start learning more about Australian bushfires. Go to the following website to collect information.

http://www.cfa.vic.gov.au/kids-schools/secondary-schools/interactive/index.htm#/home

1. Which state of Australia is one of the most bushfire prone states in the world?

Click the Fire Risk Danger Rating Ember and complete the questions

1. What is a bush fire danger rating?
2. For each of the different ratings complete the table (one fact for each section).

The words within this table do not count in the 50 words allowed for your blog post. How can you present it in a more engaging way?

Click the Fire Risk Ember Attack Ember and complete the questions

1. What is an ember attack?
2. Comment about the game you played.
3. What can be done to prevent an ember attack?

Click the Fire Risk Radiant Heat Ember and complete the questions

1. What is radiant heat?
2. Comment about what happens when you manipulate the bar in the game
3. What is the best protection against radiant heat?

Click the Topography Ember and complete the questions

1. How does topography affect the movement of bushfires?

Click the Fire Spread and Wind Change Ember and complete the questions

1. What natural factors can affect the movement of bushfires?
2. Describe the change in conditions you see when you manipulate the bar

Activity 4:

Use google images to find at least three images that you think tell a story of bush fire devastation.

Using http://www.picmonkey.com create a collage that you can insert into your blog posting. You should create a caption that you think accurately describes your picture collage.

PicMonkey Instructions

Activity 5:

Now let’s look at the impact that bush fires can have on the environment and community.

Go to http://bushfirefront.com.au/ and read the information given under the ‘Impacts’ tab on ‘Community Impacts’ and ‘Forests and Wildlife’.

Answer the following questions:

1. What are the main impacts of bush fires on the community?
2. How can bush fires impact on the environment?

Again, using http://www.picmonkey.com create a collage that you can insert into your blog posting.

This collage should show the impacts on the community and environment.

You should create a caption that you think accurately describes your picture collage.

Activity 6:
Drawing on what you now know about bush fires and using the words you brainstormed in activity 2, create a word cloud in ‘Tagxedo’ that could be used in your blog post.

http://www.tagxedo.com

Activity 7:

It is now time to put all that you have learned together to create your blog post.

Go to www.wordpress.com and create a posting in our class blog.

Your blog should include at least:

-          One Tagxedo

-          One Pic-collage

-          A description of the impacts that bushfires can have on the environment and environment

Activity 8:

Once your blog is complete you need to provide one of your peers with feedback on theirs. Use the peer rubric under the ‘Evaluate’ tab to guide your feedback.

In order to check your own understanding of the impact of bush fires on the environment and community, you must provide one of your peers with feedback on their blog.

Try to provide your peer with at least two positive things about their blog and one thing that they could work on in the future.

Use the following peer rubric to help you give feedback to one of your classmates:

Using the feedback given to you by your peer, reflect on your overall understanding of the impact of bush fires on the environment and community. Select one aspect of your blog to improve and work to improve your blog before I assess it. 

References