Wildfires have been a consistent issue in our societal landscape for years. This type of spontaneous natural disaster plagues the state of California and there seems to be no viable solution for stopping or containing them. Wildfires occur naturally due to excessive dryness of the land, usually in grassy or wooded areas, combined with intense heat from a source such as the sun or lightning. There are countless news stories, articles, and video sources that document California wildfires each year.
The effects of the wildfires span from the areas where they begin, into the atmosphere, and even to people’s homes. They are very dangerous and cause an immense amount of damage. Not only does the land itself become torched, but many homes and buildings are destroyed, and harmful gases like methane are emitted into the air.
Imagine you are an environmental scientist who has been tasked with producing analytical data related to the dangers of the California wildfires. As you learned in Module 1 of your Chemistry course, there are various ways of representing data and measurements. Using what you have learned about data, matter, and molecules, decide on the best possible path to display the dangers of the California wildfires to others including other scientists and the general public.
For your reference, here are a few resources that you may want to consider in your investigation:
- California Wildfire Emission Estimates
- California Wildfires’ Carbon Emissions Equal to a Year of Power Pollution
- Wildfires
- Using the information in the case study above, the additional resources, and what you have learned from Modules 1-5, which report would you submit from the choices below?
- Option A: Economic Impact
Create a bar graph that shows a tally of homes, businesses, and livelihoods destroyed by the wildfires and by their lack of containment. Write an argument over the economic impact of these wildfires. - Option B: Overall Negative Effects
Make a pie chart showing the total land mass percentage that is affected by the spread of wildfires. Emphasize the physical spread of wildfires across the land as a viable argument for the overall negative effects. - Option C: Gas Dangers
Construct a line graph comparing the gas emissions, in scientific notation, from wildfires using scientific notation. Use data to represent the presence of gases like methane and carbon dioxide in the air to make a case focused on the harsh effects on plant, animal, and human life.
What you need to do:
- Read through the case study and the accompanying resources.
- Reflect on what you’ve learned in the course and how the information applies to the scenario.
- Select which solution you think is best for the given scenario.
- Compose a discussion post by clicking on the “Comment” button. Your first post should include the following information:
a. Which option you selected (You can say A, B, or C.)
b. A brief statement as to why you selected that option
c. An outside source that supports your conclusion; this can be a reference to a book, website, journal article, etc. - Your post can be no more than 800 characters and no fewer than 600 characters. Your post should be in your original words, not in quotes or citations. In-person discussions are short, so your challenge is to be concise and articulate to demonstrate your understanding of the course. You can use additional discussion posts to further support your position if needed. If you go below or over the character limit, you will not be able to post your reply. If you prefer to write your post first in a word processor, check your character counts first.
6. Once you have submitted your initial post, read through what others have posted. Find someone who has selected a different solution than you and has really made you think about your choice. Reply to their post with a thoughtful question. These should not be “who, what, when, or where” types of questions. They should be substantive “how and why” types of questions that seek to understand why someone chose the solution they did.
RESPONSE IS 600-800 NO MORE THAN 800 CHARACTERS
