This project to engage students from Show Low High School in an investigation of local environmental issues, specifically the effects of wildfires and logging on soil erosion in the Rodeo-Chediski fire area, White Mountains, central Arizona. The goal of this project is to give students an opportunity to understand and have an impact on environmental decisions in their community, and to let them experience scientific inquiry first hand. They will challenge to examine their own and others. existing ideas about the ecology of forests and forest management practices and have them explore new ideas about forest management from a scientific perspective. Through this process they will generate real data on the erosion rates resulting from wildfires and the logging of burned wood. As this project develops, the PIs will simultaneously create and disseminate a model of scientific inquiry that is portable to other high schools desiring to undertake similar studies. We will develop instructional materials to facilitate dissemination and adoption of the program, and promote the sharing of the data. We will distribute the curriculum, data and results of this project on our web pages and within DLESE, poster sessions and presentations at regional and national meetings, publications, and workshops.
