From Beneath the Ashes is a project
that brought together scientists and elementary school teachers
to produce and disseminate materials that allow intermediate students
to visit Fermilab's
reconstructed prairie after they have completed a unit of
study at their school. The project was developed as part of The New
Explorers Program. We have prepared a bibliography
and this sampler to give educators a preview of the materials.
Teachers must attend a workshop in order to schedule field trips
for their students.
The program describes the impact of the Yellowstone fires of 1988
and compares the role of fire in a forest to that on a prairie.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory uses this video as an opportunity
to explore the importance of fire in the Fermilab prairie reconstruction
project. Prairies are given special attention because it is possible
for school groups to visit Fermilab to study a prairie directly.
Because this unit is designed for intermediate students, it has
been developed as a whole language unit incorporating activities
for science, mathematics, social studies and language arts. It
begins by helping students discover what a prairie is and culminates
with the importance of fire ecology and the social questions related
to protecting existing prairie ecosystems and restoring new ones.
These materials provide a wide range of activities for the professional
educator to use in a study of the prairie. Included are ten day-long
lessons that present an integrated approach to the subject and
provide opportunities for the teacher to incorporate all subject
areas. Included are process writing and cooperative grouping experiences
utilizing scientific principles as catalysts. The time necessary
for this approach could exceed the ten-day format if extension
activities are used.
The integrated approach to this unit allows the teacher to actually
create a life-size simulated prairie within the classroom. The
final project includes life-size, three-dimensional prairie plants,
life-size prairie animals (mammals, reptile, amphibians and insects),
prairie birds, and a tape providing sounds of the prairie. Also
included are the videotape, From Beneath the Ashes, historical
background, and activities which will allow the students to become
totally immersed in their study of the prairie. Each lesson contains
the nine sections described below.
