(Material not finished during lecture should be done on your own as homework or labwork.)
| Topic | Activities & Assignments | Learning Goals. By the end of this section, you will be able to ... |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction of instructors, TA, and students. | Intro of the instructors, TAs, and students. |
Start to learn the names and interests of your classmates. (Not testable.) |
| Lab/HW | Start reviewing the topics below and answering the assignment questions in class as Lab work, and finish at home as homework. Submit via Canvas within a week after today. | Focus your studies of the topics below in order to answer the attached Lab/Homework questions. |
| Indigenous vs. fire suppression policy. | Read the UBC Land Acknowledgement.(2 min). See how past policy on fire suppression relates to increased fire danger today (8.1 min). View the "Returning Fire to the Land" (7 min)video. (Fire Basics item nfb 1.3.) | Appreciate the heritage of earlier peoples on Canadian lands, and state the name of the First Nation peoples on whose land UBC sits. Explain why wildfires are becoming more severe compared to 100 years ago. |
| Historical & recent past fires | Welcome, intro, and photographic overview of some of the historical significant wildfires in Canada. View Fire Basics item nfb 1.1. Includes fire videos at Fernie (3.25 min), Ft. McMurray (0.5 min), Summerland (2:50 min). | List 3 major wildfires that affected western Canada since year 2000, and describe what weather conditions they had in common (if any). |
| Types of burns | View the links in item nfb 1.2 in the Fire_Basics tab. (Also skim the glossaries in nfb 1.6.) https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/courses/atsc413/fire_basics/ |
Compare and contrast the following different types of burns: wildfire, controlled burn, prescribed burn, cultural burn, backfire, experimental burn. |
| Daily Weather Briefings | Each class day, pairs of students will give a short (10 minute) weather briefing for Vancouver. Here is a "weather-briefing cookbook" that you can use to create a briefing when it is your turn. On this first class day, our TA will give a "demo" weather briefing. |
Utilize the rubric to evaluate short weather briefings, and create your own weather briefing by taking advantage of tips in the "cookbook". |
| This course | Read the material on the Home page of this website covering: Welcome, Course Info, Syllabus Overview, Course Goals, Instructors & TAs, and Textbooks. | Explain how this course works, and where you look for various resources and assignments. |
| This course | Read the material on the Home page covering: Evaluation, AI policy, and Getting Started. Explore the tabs at the top of the web pages. | Confirm that you know how you earn your grade in this course, when generative artificial intelligence (genAI) tools can be used, how to start in the online aspects of this course, and what types of info you can get from the tabs at the top of the web pages. |
| This course | Skim all the material on the Home page within the "Guidelines, Info & Resources" section. |
Confirm that you know not to cheat, and that you know where to get info on netiquette, academic & religious accommodation, learning commons, wellness info, teaching improvement, and course recommendations. Be aware of the guidelines regarding use of artificial intelligence LLMs such as Copilot, ChatGPT, and others. |
| WUI | View the links in nfb 1.4 on the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), and learn about FireSmart actions that you can do to protect your homes (read nfb 1.5). https://www.eoas.ubc.ca/courses/atsc413/fire_basics/ | Explain what the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) is. Describe the 3 exposure conditions that cause the problem (as presented in the WUI Cascadia 15-min. video by Michael Gollner 2021). Explain what can we do to reduce losses due to WUI fires. |