Fire Trends Over Time

Below you will find a ready-to-use lesson plan and worksheet for the activity “Time Series Analysis: Fire Trends Over Time” using MODIS data on active fires from FIRMS.

Lesson Plan: Time Series Analysis – Fire Trends Over Time

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• Use real satellite fire data to identify patterns and trends over time.

• Analyze temporal fire data to determine seasonality and long-term changes.

• Develop hypotheses about causes of fire patterns using geographic and environmental knowledge.

• Present data visually using graphs and maps.

Target Group

• Age: 13–16 (can be adapted for older students)

• Subjects: Geography, Environmental Science, Earth Science, ICT/Data Science

• Duration: 2 x 45-minute lessons (can be extended)

Materials Needed

• Computers or tablets with internet access

• Spreadsheet software (Google Sheets or Excel)

• FIRMS Archive Download Tool

• Sample worksheet (see below)

• Optional: Graph paper for manual plotting

Lesson Procedure

Lesson 1: Getting and Exploring the Data

1. Introduction (10 min):
   Discuss global wildfires. Where do students think most fires happen? Why?

2. Demonstration (15 min):
   Show FIRMS data viewer. Explain satellite fire detection. Navigate to the FIRMS download tool.

3. Data Download (10 min):
   As a class, download MODIS fire detection CSV data for one region (e.g., Brazil or Indonesia) for several years (e.g., 2020–2024).

4. Data Sorting (10 min):
   Open in spreadsheet software. Help students sort and group detections by month/year.

5. Homework or Extension:
   Students count the number of fire detections per month and input them into a new table.

Lesson 2: Graphing and Interpretation

1. Review (5 min):
   Recap what MODIS and FIRMS do.

2. Graph Creation (20 min):
   Students create bar or line graphs of monthly/yearly fire detections.

3. Pattern Discussion (10 min):
   Look for seasonal trends, peak months, or years with many/few fires.

4. Hypothesis Building (10 min):
   Why are there more fires in some months? In some years? (E.g., dry season, El Niño, land clearing.)

5. Plenary (5 min):
   Reflect: How can satellite data help us understand environmental change?

📄 Student Worksheet: Fire Trends Over Time

Worksheet: Analyzing Fire Trends with MODIS FIRMS

Name: _________________________
Class: _________________________
Date: _________________________

Part A: About the Data

1. What is FIRMS?
FIRMS stands for:

2. What does FIRMS detect?
□ Floods
□ Active fires
□ Volcanoes
□ Deforestation

Part B: Fire Data Collection

Region chosen: ___________________
Years studied: ___________________

Instructions: Count the number of fire detections per month or year using your spreadsheet software.

Part C: Graph Your Data

Instructions:

• Make a line or bar graph showing fire detections over time.

• You may choose to graph per month or per year.

📊 Graph Title: ___________________________________

Part D: Analyze the Trends

1. Which month had the highest number of fires?

2. Which year had the most fires?

3. Can you identify a seasonal pattern? If yes, describe it.

4. Suggest at least one possible reason why fire activity increased or decreased in a certain year.

Part E: Reflection

How can using satellite data like MODIS help people and the planet?