Living with Fire

In the summer months, national news reports wildfires in western United States annually. While it is rare to hear of a natural wildfire occurring in Iowa, people often use fire to manage our forests and grasslands. As an extension to Project Learning Tree’s activity “Living with Fire,” ask a local natural resource manager if and when they prescribe prairie or forest burns. (See list below for contact information). Ask if your students can either watch or help (depending on age and ability) with the burn. Ask the natural resource manager to give students more information on why they burn, how often they do it, and how fire affects plants and wildlife (including insects).

Contact information:
County Conservation Boards
State Parks
State Foresters
State Wildlife Biologists

Book List
Grades PreK-2
Donahoe, M. 2002. Fire That Saved the Forest. Rinehart P.
Reynolds, M., Kilby, D. 2001. The Prairie Fire. Orca Book Publishers.
Simon, S. 2000. Wildfires. HarperCollins Publishers.

Grades 3-5
Armbruster, A. 1996. Wildfires. Scholastic Library Publishing.
Cone, P. 1996. Wildfire. Sagebrush Education Resources.
Morrison, T. 2006. Wildfire. Walter Lorraine Books.
Munoz, W. 1998. Fire: Friend or Foe. Houghton Mifflin Company.
Patent, D.H. 1990. Yellowstone Fires: Flames and Rebirth. Holiday House, Inc.
Peppas, L. 2004. Wildfire Alert! Crabtree Publishing Company.
Pringle, L.P. 1995. Fire in the Forest: A Cycle of Growth and Renewal. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.
Simon, S. 1996. Wildfires: A New Look at an Old Foe. HarperCollins Publishers.
Sipiera, P.P. 2006. Wildfires. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Grades 6-8
Beil, K.M. 1999. Fire in their Eyes: Wildfires and the People who Fight Them. Harcourt Paperpacks.
Vogt, G.L. 1990. Forests on Fire: The Fight to Save Our Trees. Scholastic Library Publishing.

Grades 9-12
Bryon, N. 2003. Los Alamos Wildfires. World Almanac Library.