Leveraging STEM Engagment with Place-Based Fire Science and Indigenous Fire Stewardship

Abstract

Place-based education is a long-held strategy to engage students by connecting science content to the local environment that the students live in. This relationship to the natural world can be especially engaging to Indigenous students by integrating traditional ecological knowledge that connects to Tribal culture. This approach to learning, combined with exploration of regional STEM fire research, is the focus of a set of 8E lesson sequences that includes use of microprocessors, optical sensors, ArcGIS maps, and traditional Fire Stewardship techniques. Activities are anchored in the NGSS Standards, the Essential Understandings of Montana Indians, Inquiry-based instruction, and the Engineering Design Process. The mission of these lesson sequences is to encourage all Montana students to explore STEM careers by experiencing the science and technology that informs prescribed burning.