Controlled Burn

by Roy Winkelman

A photo of a burned forest may seem an odd choice as photo of the month since we are also celebrating Arbor Day in April. I remember how disturbed my fourth-graders were when we went on a field trip to a park that had recently conducted a controlled burn. At first, it was hard for them to understand how a “forest fire” could ever be a good thing. Your students will probably react in a similar fashion to this photo. If you like trees, it’s hard to see them with charred trunks. However by the end of that field trip many years ago, the students started to understand why a controlled burn was a good thing. The park ranger pointed out that all the large trees had survived the fire, that new growth was already starting in the enriched soil, and that pinecones had opened.

Here are two related questions for your students to explore:

1. Why are controlled burns intentionally set in parks and forests?

2. What happens to a forest when there are no controlled burns and all naturally-occurring fires are extinguished as soon as possible?