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  • On Top of Old Smokey: Computer Wind Model for Predicting Smoke Movement
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On Top of Old Smokey: Computer Wind Model for Predicting Smoke Movement

  • Article
  • Middle School
  • 1 Classroom Period
  • Fire
  • Computer Modeling
  • Conditions at Night
  • Density
  • Prescribed Fire
  • Smoke
  • Visibility
  • Wildland Fire
PDF preview of "On Top of Old Smokey" article
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Wildland fires occur both purposefully and by accident. Purposeful fires include fires set by individuals to remove fallen leaves or other debris. Often, foresters set small, controlled fires on purpose, called prescribed burns, to improve forest health and to reduce the chance of larger, uncontrolled forest fires. The scientists in this article studied how wind and smoke from fires move at night to better manage prescribed fires in the future.

On Top of Old Smokey: Computer Wind Model for Predicting Smoke Movement

Part Of

Fall 1998 - Vol. 1 No. 1

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  • After reading “On Top of Old Smokey,” test your understanding with a word search.

    Word Search – On Top of Old Smokey

    • Activity
    • Middle School
    • Less than 30 minutes
    • Vocabulary
    • Word Game
    After reading “On Top of Old Smokey,” test your understanding with a word search.
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    Explore Activity Download Activity (PDF) Download Answer Key (PDF)

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    On Top of Old Smokey: Computer Wind Model for Predicting Smoke Movement

Glossary

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  • complexity

    (kǝm plek sǝ tē): Something that is complex, or hard to separate, analyze, or solve.

  • debris

    (də brē): The remains of something broken down or destroyed.

  • dense

    (den(t)s): (1) Marked by closeness or crowding together of parts; (2) having a high mass per unit of volume.

  • drainage

    (drā nij): (1) The act or process of draining something; (2) an area or district drained.

  • landscape

    (lan(d) skāp)
    verb: To make changes to improve the appearance of an area of land.
    noun: The visual land, such as trees, water, and sky

  • model

    (mä dǝl): (noun): (1) Type or kind; (2) a system of postulates, data, and inferences presented as a mathematical description of an entity or state of affairs.

    (verb): To make a simplified copy or representation of something to help aid understanding.

  • nocturnal

    (näk tər nəl): Active at night.

  • prescribed burn

    (pri skrībed bərn): Controlled fires used to improve forest habitat.

  • simulate

    (sim yǝ lāt): To make an imitation (or copy or model) by one system or process of the way in which another system or process works.

  • topography

    (tǝ päg rǝ fē): The shape and height and depth of the features of a place.

  • wildland

    (wī(ǝ)l(d) land): An area in which few or no people live that is not used for farming and is more or less in its natural state.

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  • Education Standards
  • Educator Guide

Standards addressed in this Article:

Social Studies Standards

Social Studies Standards are educational guidelines outlining the essential knowledge, skills, and concepts students should learn in subjects such as history, geography, civics, and economics, aiming to provide a comprehensive understanding of societal structures, historical events, and global perspectives.
  • People, Places, and Environments
  • Science, Technology, and Society

Note To Educators

The Forest Service's Mission

The Forest Service’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. For more than 100 years, our motto has been “caring for the land and serving people.” The Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), recognizes its responsibility to be engaged in efforts to connect youth to nature and to promote the development of science-based conservation education programs and materials nationwide.

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What Is the Natural Inquirer?

Natural Inquirer is a science education resource journal to be used by students in grade 6 and up. Natural Inquirer contains articles describing environmental and natural resource research conducted by Forest Service scientists and their cooperators. These scientific journal articles have been reformatted to meet the needs of middle school students. The articles are easy to understand, are aesthetically pleasing to the eye, contain glossaries, and include hands-on activities. The goal of Natural Inquirer is to stimulate critical reading and thinking about scientific inquiry and investigation while teaching about ecology, the natural environment, and natural resources.

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  • Meet the Scientists

    Introduces students to the scientists who did the research. This section may be used in a discussion about careers in science.

  • What Kinds of Scientist Did This Research?

    Introduces students to the scientific disciplines of the scientists who conducted the research.

  • Thinking About Science

    Introduces something new about the scientific process, such as a scientific habit of mind or procedures used in scientific studies.

  • Thinking About the Environment

    Introduces the environmental topic being addressed in the research.

  • Introduction

    Introduces the problem or question that the research addresses.

  • Method

    Describes the method the scientists used to collect and analyze their data.

  • Findings & Discussion

    Describes the results of the analysis. Addresses the findings and places them into the context of the original problem or question.

  • Reflection Section

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  • Number Crunches

    Presents an easy math problem related to the research.

  • Glossary

    Defines potentially new scientific or other terms to students. The first occurrence of a glossary word is bold in the text.

  • Citation

    Gives the original article citation with an internet link to the original article.

  • FACTivity

    Presents a hands-on activity that emphasizes something presented in the article.


Science Education Standards

You will find a listing of education standards which are addressed by each article at the back of each publication and on our website.


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