Preparing for the Worst: Natural Disasters

Lesson 16
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ELA

Unit 2

4th Grade

Lesson 16 of 22

Objective


Explain what happened during the Yellowstone fires of 1988 and the impact the fires had on the park. 

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Target Task


Writing Prompt

Explain what happened during the Yellowstone fires of 1988. What impact did the fires have on the park? Use thewords merged, carelessness, and flammable, and intense in your answer. 

Sample Response

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Key Questions


  • What do fires need to burn? What causes a fire?

  • Why are wildfires considered a fact of life in the wilderness, and what has been the impact of aggressively fighting them? 

  • What policy did Yellowstone Park officials create in 1972? Why did they abandon the policy in 1988?

  • Describe the destruction caused by the wildfire in Yellowstone in 1988. Include details about how the wildfire spread. 

  • How did the summer of fire finally end? Why?

Vocabulary


dependent

adj.

(p. 9)

relying upon something else

renew

v.

(p. 9)

to make something new or strong again

accumulate

v.

(p. 9)

to grow in size over time

carelessness

n.

(p. 10)

not paying close attention

merged

v.

(p. 13)

to join together

flammable

adj.

(p. 14)

easily set on fire

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Common Core Standards


  • RI.4.3 — Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
  • RI.4.5 — Describe the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in a text or part of a text.

Supporting Standards

L.4.4
L.4.4.b
RF.4.3
RF.4.4
RI.4.1
RI.4.4
RI.4.10
SL.4.1
W.4.10

Next

Analyze why wildfires are neither good nor bad.

Lesson 17
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