Veld fires

[Rubenstruben]

I live in the Western Cape and since December we’ve had an excessive amount of fires starting in and around the Western Cape. They start in the mountains, near wine farms or other grassy areas. They have been so excessive that people think they are started deliberately. Other blame invasive grass species as the culprits and farmers not doing enough to clear their lands. Since this is pressing issue, will it be a good idea to do my science fair project on this? i don’t know where to start. Should I focus in the effects of different grass on fire spreading, wind direction/speed and hiw quickly fire spreads or build something that can detect the fire and respond?

[MadelineB]

Hello and welcome to Science Buddies!

These are both good questions ...

"Should I focus in the effects of different grass on fire spreading, wind direction/speed and hiw quickly fire spreads or build something that can detect the fire and respond?"

For both approaches, you need to get as much information about the recent fires such as which grasses are involved, how/if wind direction/speed changes in time, as well as size and spread, and drought, etc. See if your local/regional government environmental agencies have this information online.

You will need these details in order to design a project to look at the effects of different grasses and also to build a fire detection approach.

Science Buddies has guidelines that will help you get started:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... fic-method

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... cess-steps

One of the first steps in both approaches is doing the background research (including the specifics about the Veld fires as well as how other researchers have approached similar problems):

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... arch-paper

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... earch-plan

Another important issue is how much time and resources you have for completing your project!

Let us know if this information helps. If you have more questions be sure to post again!

Best of luck!

Madeline