Lesson Overview: In this activity, students learn about 3 concepts: the nature of smoke from wildland fires (through a technical reading), the ways in which smoke disperses into the atmosphere (through a demonstration and presentations), and some of the ways in which people can live with and reduce the smoke from wildland fires (through a reading/writing/speaking activity).

Lesson Goal: Increase students’ understanding of the nature of smoke from wildland fires, how it disperses, what its effects are, and how it might be minimized - or how people might be better able to live with it.

Objectives:

• Students understand the composition and health impacts of smoke from wildland fires.
• Students understand how temperature inversions affect smoke dispersal.
• Students can use graphs of weather data to predict concentrations of particulate matter.
• Students can identify actions that might reduce smoke from wildland fires or help reduce the adverse health impacts of smoke.