2009 Fire Ecology Institute for Educators

June 7, 2009
There are several impressions I have with regard to this class and how I will utilize the information. First, I just picked up all the materials for the class. Will I ever be able to use all of it? What the heck is this piece of wood? Next, I looked at the posters. I think some of the posters will be wonderful for my classroom. The reason I am taking this class is to see if I can incorporate some of the ELL curriculum I use into getting ELL kids background knowledge of our forests and parks. Last, I already feel overwhelmed and inept at taking on this course! Most of the teachers here are Science teachers. They actually use this information in their curriculum.

June 8, 2009
WOW!!! I am REALLY overwhelmed with all the information. I really had no idea about all the agencies and departments involved in forests….and fires…and parks!!! There is so much vocabulary I DO NOT know regarding this topic. I am trying to use my journal in the Cornell Note writing technique. It is good practice for me. I guess of all the things I heard today, is the health of our forests. For example, there are more than one type of beetles killing our forests. A few examples are the Mountain beetle and the West Pine Beetle. I was shocked to know that sometimes, different beetles will attack the same tree!
I am learning how to identify a tree! I got this really cool brochure that will help me identify different types of Conifer trees! For example: Sinlgeleaf Pinon trees only have one needle coming out of each borne area. Pinon Pines and Lodgepole pine have two little needles per “hole”. I can tell the difference between these two trees because Lodgepole are really tall and skinny. I know what a Ponderosa Pine looks like. I didn’t know that they typically have three needles per hole. I never thought about the fact that Ponderosa Pines didn’t have branches down low. Fact is, they sorta “self prune” themselves. This is a good thing because without those branches low to the ground, they are not as easy to catch fire in a forest fire event. I am still not so sure about Limber Pine. They have five needles per hole. I know what a Juniper Tree is….sorta. I know the berries are used for making gin. MMMMMmmmmmmmm!!! Lol
I know a Cedar tree has that gorgeous “shredded” bark. Is a Cedar tree a Juniper?
This class just goes so fast, I don’t have time to reflect on what I’ve learned! I haven’t even looked through the MOUNTAIN of material I have received. I wish we had less time in class and some lab time or homework time to write in our journals to reflect what we have learned….what we are still not sure of…..and how we will connect further learning!
TOOOOO MUCH information without time to reflect and absorb it!
The “Ahhhh-Haaaa” moment! I know why we have a “TREE COOKIE” in our materials! Dendro means tree. Chrono means time and ology means study. We had a Dendrochronologist teach us about tree rings and how we use them to date many things in nature!

June 9,2009
I am starting to form some ideas about how I will use this information with my ELL students.

June 10, 2009
I now know HOW I will format this information. I am going to use a version of the SCIENCE JOURNAL!!!
I will have kids set up the front with the Table of Content. I will have them label the back with one letter per page on the last 26 pages. This will be their glossary. They can input all the vocabulary we use while reading the story in the ELL curriculum, My Side of the Mountain.

June 11, 2009
Mesa Verde was REALLY interesting. I am so glad the speaker talked about the fire in BATTLEMENT MESA. My former husband was a fire fighter on that fire. He SAW the Slurry Bomber crash into the mountain. He was head of his crew and had a radio. He said the radio went crazy when the plane crashed and the wind/fire shifted. Several young guys were caught and killed in that fire and the pilot died in the crash! They thought it was his crew. He got his crew to safety. The scar is still on the mountain where the plane crashed and the boys were killed. Tragic!

June 12,2009
It was fun to go to see how a prescriptive burn can really be effective. I am exhausted! I have some great ideas on how I will use this class info.! I want my students AND my grandkids to get in touch with nature.

In conclusion, when I walked into this class, I had no idea how interesting this class would be. I know I will use this information in my class AND WITH MY GRAND KIDS so they can learn the importance of nature.