This activity would be held after introducing the basic content for this lesson: stages of forest

development in primary and secondary succession scenarios, and how fire plays a role.
Know Understand Be Able To

Forests have a life cycle Fires are an important part of the life Identify features of the
that progresses in stages cycle of forests. different stages of forest
from bare earth to a Life will assert itself on new land. development.
mature community before
becoming overgrown.

Verbal-Linguistic: Intrapersonal: Naturalistic: Op- Visual-Spatial: Make a

Create a travel brochure Short story/ Ed: Let it Burn! comic strip
for a new island. poem/blog.

After working for 20 minutes (tracked by visible timer), students will take turns sharing their
creations with the other students at their table for an additional 3 minutes. Then they will turn
their product in.

Rubric: 10 points total.

5 3-4 1-2 0
The student has The student The student has The student has
clearly demonstrated demonstrates some made an honest made no attempt to
a knowledge of the knowledge of forest attempt to complete complete the
stages of forest development, but the assignment, but assignment.
development in a either some there are major gaps
primary or secondary misconceptions are in their knowledge of
succession example. present or some forest development
crucial details are stages.
omitted.

The student has The student The student has The student has
clearly demonstrated demonstrates some made an honest made no attempt to
an understanding of understanding of the attempt to complete complete the
the causes of primary causes of succession the assignment, but assignment.
and secondary scenarios, but either there are major gaps
succession scenarios some misconceptions in their understanding
are present or some of the causes of
crucial details are succession
omitted. scenarios.

Task Card - Travel Brochure

Create a travel brochure for a new island. Decide what stage of development the ecosystem
there is in, the main features of that stage, and why someone would want to travel there. Use as
much detail and vocabulary as possible! Your brochure must have:
● A depiction of your island, showing details which would be present at the chosen stage
of development.
● Proper use of at least 3 vocabulary terms from this lesson.
● A paragraph with reasons why a tourist might want to visit your new island.
These criteria will be used along with this rubric to determine your final grade:
*insert rubric here*

Task Card - Narrative Description

Create a short story/poem/blog post about a new island and its path toward becoming a mature
community. Alternatively, do the same for a forest recovering from a fire. Your narrative must
include:
● What stage of succession the environment is currently in.
● Whether the succession event is primary or secondary.
● A description of future development of the environment, or if you write about a mature
community, describe its past progress.
● Proper use of at least 3 vocabulary terms from this lesson.
These criteria will be used along with this rubric to determine your final grade:
*insert rubric here*

Task Card - Park Ranger

A small wildfire has started in a mature forest very far from any humans. Most people want to
put it out. As a Park Ranger, write an op-ed in favor of letting the fire burn. Be sure to describe
the likely state of the forest before the fire, what the recovery will look like, and how the fire will
benefit the ecosystem. Your Op-Ed must include:
● An explanation of how the fire will benefit the ecosystem.
● A description of the forest before and after the fire (this can be either drawn or written!)
● A description of what the forest would look like if the fire was put out and growth was left
unchecked.
● Proper use of at least 3 vocabulary terms from this lesson.
These criteria will be used along with this rubric to determine your final grade:
*insert rubric here*

Task Card - Comic Strip

Make a comic strip with at least 6 panels depicting a member of the ecosystem (bird, mouse,
tree, etc) going through the changes one might expect during and after a forest fire. Describe
how they react to the changes and how they might feel about them. Your comic strip must
include:
● 6 Panels
● A main character who is living in the burning/burned forest
● A description of the changes the forest has gone/will go through (could this be the
second time a tree experienced a forest fire? Maybe they know what to expect…)
● Proper use of at least 3 vocabulary terms from this lesson.
These criteria will be used along with this rubric to determine your final grade:
*insert rubric here*