Program summer workshops during the years 1991 to 1995. The objectives of this lesson, developed for grades 9 to 12, are to investigate the effects of fire on the diversity and population size of arthropods. In this investigation students develop a hypothesis, design an experiment and analyze the data to form a conclusion. The experiment involves having access to a natural area that has been recently burned. This may be done as a field trip to carry out the experiment or with the teacher placing and retrieving the materials.
Students use pitfall traps to collect insects in both burned and nonburned areas.
The collected insects are then sorted and classified according to the ability of the students and the data is used to draw conclusions. ENC does NOT distribute this resource.