This version of FireWorks focuses on ecological communities in the Sagebrush Ecosystem - shrublands dominated by sagebrush species.
Like all FireWorks programs, the Sagebrush Ecosystem curriculum provides students with interactive, hands-on activities to study wildland fire. It consists of one curriculum of activities and trunks of materials for educators. The curriculum is targeted at the middle school level, but can be adapted to meet the needs of all learners, including younger and older students. This curriculum is revised from select lessons in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Northern Cascades middle school curriculum, and activity numbers align with that curriculum. For additional activities, see curricula from other regions.
To learn about some of the plants, animals, and fungi that live in the Sagebrush Ecosystem, see the essays in the: FireWorks Encyclopedia
For more information about this curriculum, the ecological communities, and educational standards, please see the Introduction. Access the complete curriculum:
Or download individual components of the curriculum separately:
- Introduction
- M01. Wildland Fire in the Sagebrush Ecosystem
- M05. Using Matchstick Models to Explore Wildland Fires
- M06. Ladder Fuels & Fire Spread: The Tinker Tree/Shrub Derby
- M07. Fuel Properties: The Campfire Challenge
- M11. Adopting Organisms of the Sagebrush Ecosystem
- M12. Tree/Shrub Structures and Fire
- M13. Mystery Plants of the Sagebrush Ecosystem
- M15. Bark and Soil: Nature’s Insulators
- Glossary
- Presentation Rubric
- Youth Permission and Waiver Form
- Student Feedback Form