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Soils of Fire STEM Kit

Explore how the intensity of a wildfire affects where a tree’s carbon goes!

In this kit, students analyze three soil samples from the 2020 Camreon Peak wildfire of Colorado. Through physical and chemical analysis, they determine which sample was unburned, moderately burned and intensely burned in the fire zone to discover how carbon moves from trees to the soil and atmosphere as part of the carbon cycle. The science is straight out of Dr. Francesca Cotrufo’s lab at CSU.

Science and Engineering Practices include: 1) planning and carrying out investigations; 2) analyzing and interpreting data; 3) engaging in argument from evidence; 4) obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Crosscutting Concepts include:  1) patterns; 2) cause and effect; 3) scale, proportion, and quantity; 4) systems and system models; 5) stability and change of systems

Class Requirements

  • 5th grade and up
  • Moderate teacher preparation
  • One to two class periods
  • 30 students or less working in pairs
  • Science notebooks
  • Sink
  • Paper towels

Soils of Fire STEM Kit Resources

Next Generation Science Standards: Disciplinary Core Ideas

  • 5-LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.
  • 5-LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems Matter cycles between the air and soil and among plants, animals, and microbes as these organisms live and die. Organisms obtain gases, and water, from the environment and release waster matter (gas, liquid, or solid) back into the environment.
  • MS-LS2.B: Cycle of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems Transfers of matter into and out of the physical environment occur at every level. Decomposers recycle nutrients from dead plant or animal matter back to the soil in terrestrial environments or to water in aquatic environments. The atoms that make up the organisms in an ecosystem are cycled repeatedly between the living and non-living parts of the ecosystem.
  • HS-LS2.B Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems The chemical elements that make up the molecules of organisms pass through food webs and into and out of the atmosphere and soil, and they are combined and recombined in different ways.

Borrowing STEM Kits

There is no charge to educators who wish to borrow any of our STEM kits. We appreciate applications be submitted at least 2 weeks in advance of the desired use date. The loan application forms require you to confirm your email address before it will be sent to the EOC – so once you click submit, check your email (including the junk folder)! You should also get a copy of the form for your records via email, if you don’t, please contact Jordan Conley (jordan.conley@colostate.edu).

Drawing of a microscope