Bushfires

SURVIVAL: means to stay alive.


We chose bushfires. We will need an emergency pack because we will have no access to food or water. Also our power lines will be cut off because the electricity poles are made of wood and can burn. Also we need an emergency pack to help us survive.

These are the 20 items our group chose to bring in our survival pack


1. water (pack)
2. Canned food
3. First aid kit
4. Shovel
5. Tarp
6. Torch
7. Blanket
8. Spare clothes
9. Closed in shoes
10. Asthma puffer
11. Tool box
12. Batteries
13. Seeds
14. Survival tip book
15. Compass
16. Head light
17. CPR book
18. Toilet paper
19. Soap
20. Oxygen mask


Our group then had to vote on which 10 items we were going to bring and why we were going to bring them

WATER (pack) – people need water so they don’t get dehydrated. Without water people will not survive. People also need water because after the bushfire all our water will be polluted with ash.

CANNED FOOD (pack) – people need food to maintain there energy. Without food people will of hunger. People also need food so they will not die.

FIRST AID KIT – people need a first aid kit so if they get injured they can heal there burns or cuts. Without a first aid kit people will not survive because if they get badly injured it will just get infected.


BLANKET – People need a blanket so they can stay warm. Without a blanket you will get very cold. If you get cold you may get very sick.


TARP – for shelter. So we can sleep well. If we get any rain we will be covered.

SHOVEL- So people can dig a hole so they can go to the toilet. If people don’t go to the toilet they can get very sick. If people go to the toilet on the ground all the germs will spread.


SPARE CLOTHES- so people will have spare clothes to wear. So people will have clean clothes to wear. So we can keep warm in the day.



ASTHMA PUFFER - if someone has asthma and their asthma puffer gets burned. That way we have a spare one for them. So they don’t have an asthma attack

SURVIVURL TIP BOOK- to give us tips so we can stay alive. So we know how to take care of our self. So we can survive during the fire.

HEAD LIGHT-so we can see at night. It will be hard for us to see without a headlight. So we can see clearly.

These are the stuff that we used to help make our kit.

Our survival pack where we stored our stuff was made of an A4 paper box.

Our water (pack) was made out of a sprite bottle which we cut it in half and put blue crapped paper inside of it.

Our canned food was made out of two toilet rolls that we wrapped together in masking tape and painted orange.

We made our first Aid kit out of a container and made a list of what was butter inside it.

We made our shovel out of toilet rolls for a handle and cardboard for the digging bit.

We made our tarp of brown cardboard and then we rolled it up so it will fit in the box.

Our blanket was made out of paper and then we glued cotton wool balls on it.

To make our spare cloths our group used cardboard then stuffed it with cotton wool balls.

To make our asthma puffer we used a toothpaste box and cut it up to form a puffer.

To make the tip book we folded 5 pieces of in half and stapled the side together to form a book.

Our headlight was made from a strip of cardboard and cotton wool balls stuck to the front and painted yellow.

Drought

By Ma Ma

What is a drought?

There is no universal definition for a drought. A drought occurs when there is not enough water for people to use for everyday living. In the summer there is not much rain. A drought normally occurs in the summer, where there is often no fresh water to drink or use. Often a drought happens when there is no rainfall for a long period of time. Australia is constantly living through a drought, and we now have to learn to live with drought.

How and why does a drought occur?

A drought can occur when there is low rainfall and it often happens in summer. Australia has one of the most uneven rainfall climates in the world. Over the long term we have about three good years and three bad years out of ten. The strongest cause for drought in Australia is the climate phenomenon called the Southern Oscillation. This is a major air pressure shift between the Asian and east Pacific regions and is best known as the El Nino effect. When severe droughts occur, all the animals and plants die, making life hard for our industry and farms.






Examples of droughts around Australia

Droughts always occur around Australia. We are in the middle of a drought at the moment and some people say it could be here to stay as in 2006 Australia had, had its 11th hottest year ever. Research states that droughts occur sometimes every 18 years and they can last for up to many years. The table below shows the droughts around Australia and the effects they had on us.

The effects of major drought
1864-66
All States affected except Tasmania.
1963-68
Widespread drought. Also longest drought in arid central Australia: 1958-67. The last two years saw a 40 per cent drop in wheat harvest, a loss of 20 million sheep, and a decrease in farm income of $300-500 million
1880-86
Southern and eastern States affected.
1895-1903
Sheep numbers halved and more than 40 per cent loss of cattle. Most devastating drought in terms of stock losses.
1911-16
Loss of 19 million sheep and 2 million cattle.
1972-73
Mainly in eastern Australia.
1918-20
Only parts of Western Australia free from drought.
1982-83
Total loss estimated in excess of $3000 million. Most intense drought in terms of vast areas affected.
1939-45
Loss of nearly 30 million sheep between 1942 and 1945.
1991-95
Average production by rural industries fell about 10 per cent, resulting in possible $5 billion cost to the Australian economy, $590 million drought relief provided by the Commonwealth Government between September 1992 and December 1995.




How do droughts affect people and the environment?

The people and the environment are most affected by a drought. Agriculture suffers first and most severely, yet eventually everyone feels the impact. Droughts upset cropping programs, reduces breeding stock and threatens permanent erosion of the capital and resource base of farming.
There is a big risk of environmental damage, particularly through vegetation loss and soil erosion. These have long term effects for our environment. Water quality suffers, and toxic algae outbreaks can occur, plants and animals are also threatened. Bushfires and storms often increase during droughts.

What are some of the ways in which people can prepare their homes/communities for a drought?

There is a Drought Watch Service which provides us with information on preparing us in a national drought. Drought declarations take account of other factors in addition to rainfall and are the responsibility of the State Government.
When we are in a drought, the government places water restrictions on each state. At the moment NSW is on level 3 water restrictions which include the following:
Hand-held hosing of lawns and gardens and drip irrigation is now allowed only on Wednesdays and Sundays before 10 am and after 4 pm
No other watering systems or sprinklers are to be used at any time
A permit from Sydney Water is required to fill new or renovated pools bigger than 10,000 litres
No hosing of hard surfaces including vehicles at any time
No hoses or taps to be left running unattended, except when filling pools or containers
Fire hoses must only be used for fire fighting purposes – not for cleaning.
Some interesting facts about Droughts

Australia is the driest inhabited continent in the world, even though some areas have annual rainfall of over 1200 millimetres. Australia’s climate is highly uneven, across the continent generally, as well as from year to year.

We therefore must learn to live with the drought.




Interesting pictures and graphs about Australian droughts


Australian farmer doing it tough in the drought



Information on the 2007 drought in NSW
Information about the drought around Australia

Bibliography

Websites:

Living with Drought, The Australian Government Webpage
http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/drought/livedrought.shtml

Planet Earth: Kidscyber Webpage
http://www.kidcyber.com.au/

What causes drought? http://library.thinkquest.org

Bushfires

Bushfires are devastating disasters that occur all over the world. They can cause a lot of damage to people, animals and the environment. Bushfires can be deliberately set by humans or can occur naturally.

Basically a bushfire is a wildfire that occurs in the bush. A bushfire is a natural disaster that can sometimes get out of control. If a bushfire does not occur in the bush then it is not a bushfire. They can reach temperatures of about 1000 Degrees Celsius.

One of the reasons bushfires are caused is because careless people drop their cigarette buds on the floor. Fires can be deliberately set by people. They can also be caused by lightening strikes that can set fire to grass or trees. Even a camp fire that goes out of control can start a bushfire.

Bushfires affect people and the environment because bushes are destroyed and trees are damaged. Also our wildlife are injured or killed and their habitats are destroyed. Our houses are burned and we will have no shelter or electricity. People will also be killed or badly injured. The smoke from the fire will pollute the air and people will die from breathing in smoke.

Bushfires can start during hot dry weather. You need fuel to start the fire and wood to keep it going. Fires can also start by lightening strikes. A fire needs oxygen to stay alive, just like we do. Without oxygen the fire will go out.


· In 2001 there was a bushfire in NSW on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

· There was also another bushfire in NSW in 1994 with temperatures of about 40 Degrees Celsius.

· In 1983 there was a terrible bushfire on ash Wednesday.72 people were killed including 15 Fire fighters. More then 2000 houses were burnt down. This fire started in Victoria on the 16th February and ended in South Australia on the 18th of February.

· On 8th January 2003 there was another terrible bushfire in Canberra caused by a lightening strike.530 homes were burnt down and 4 people died. $280 million was needed to fix the damage.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BUSHFIRES

· Bushfires manly occur in summer or autumn when the weather is hot.

· Bushfires also occur in drought where the grass is dry.

· There are 2 main types of bushfires: SURFACE BUSHFIRES burn in grass, shrubs or litter and are easy to control. But CROWN BUSHFIRES is when the heat and the flames of the fire spread rapidly to the tops of trees. This makes it hard to control.

· There is about 15,000 bushfires in Australia each year.

· If you deliberately start a fire you could go to jail.

· Some bushfires can travel faster than 25km/h, so that doesn’t give you much time to run away.

· The massive Indonesian Bushfires of 1997-1998 created a smoke cloud that covered much of south East Asia. The thick cloud caused a passenger airliner to crash, killing all 234 people on board.

· Fire fighters use a variety of equipment yo control fires.

· Australia has over 250,000 volunteer fire fighters.

· Major Bushfires may continue to burn for months or days until they either run out of fuel or are extinguished by changes in the weather or efforts of people.

Bushfires

What is a bushfire?
A bushfire is the burning of wood, forest and leaves.

How Do Bushfires Occur?
For a bushfire to occur, there needs to be fuel and a fire starter.

The fuel can be leaves, wood, branches and paper. The fire starter can be a natural starter like lightning or it can be a cigarette or a match.

Why Do Bushfires Occur?
Bushfires can occur by two main reasons. One is by accident, for example a lightning strike or somebody not putting out a campfire or cigarette. They can also occur by people purposely starting a bushfire.

Examples of Bushfires Around Australia
One of the worst fires in Australian history is called the Ash Wednesday Fire.

The fire started on 16th of February 1983 and burnt through southern Victoria and in South Australia. There were 75 people killed, 2,600 people injured and 9,000 homes lost or damaged.

How Do Bushfires Affect People and the Environment?
Bushfires can actually be very good for the environment. For example some native trees need smoke and heat to open their seeds.

Bushfires are bad because they damage property and can kill people.

What are Some of the Ways People Can Prepare their Homes and Communities Against Bushfires?
By building their houses away from the bush. By also keeping grass and leaves away from their homes and by putting sprinklers around their homes.

BUSHFIRES

Bushfires are amazing Natural Disasters. There are many different reasons why they happen. It can be dry weather, high temperature or even flammable vegetation. Bushfires can even be started by lightning strikes when they hit the ground

Most fires happen in Australia. This is because we live in on of the driest countries and we have high temperatures. It is also because of the weather patterns Australia gets. Bushfires usually occur in places where there are lots to burn or it won’t stay alive very long.

Fires can cause lots of damage and deaths. Wildlife are usually killed by the smoke, the fire and also from their homes being destroyed and not having any where to live people can also be killed along with their homes being burned down. People can die from breathing in lots of the smoke. Power lines, forests and buildings can also be knocked over.

Fires need three different things to start. It is called the fire triangle which has oxygen, fuel a heat sources. Fires will not go even if one of these things is missing. The oxygen helps to burn he fire. The oxygen gas is in the air. Wind moves the air with the oxygen which will move the fire. Fuel is what bushfires burn. It can be stuff like leaves, grass, twigs or wood. If a fire runs out of fuel it will dry up very quickly. The heat sources are what start the fire. It can start by volcano eruptions, sparks or lightning strikes. Even if fires crackers or bombs go wrong they can start fires too.

Fire fighters spray water over smaller fires with a hose but with larger fires that are really big helicopters pour water to cool down the fire. They sometimes also put foam on the fires to stop the oxygen from getting to the fire. The helicopters pour it from high in the sky so that it will spread as its falling. Sometimes the chemicals are red so that the pilots can see where the chemicals are falling.

The safest way to get out of a fire is to do the method STOP, DROP, ROLL. You should always do this if your cloths or you skin is on fire. The rolling stops the oxygen from getting to the fire. If the fire doesn’t get oxygen it will more then likely dry up. That means that you will be safer then in danger.

There has been many different fires in history like the large fire in Chicago on October 8th 1871. the heat from the flames were so hot that it was burning the hair on the people standing at the nearby river called the Michigan Lake. Some people were even in the Michigan Lake to escape the heat and to avoid their hair being burned. This fire burned the water system pipes that were deep under ground. The fire only stopped when there was nothing left to burn. More then three hundred people died. It cost two hundred million dollars to rebuild the city of Chicago.

There was the deadliest fire in the United States also on October 8th 1871 People also were in the river to escape the heat and the fires flames. Many people died from breathing in to much smoke or burned to death. The fire storm ripped off the roofs off houses. The fire killed more then one thousand two hundred people and burned more than two thousand four hundred acres of the Wisconsin Forests. This fire burned down the entire city.

Bushfires are very interesting and have many interesting facts about.
- Fires can be fueled by flammable gases like Petrol.
- Bush fires are solar energy that is out of control.
- Fires can be good as much as bad.
- A crown fire is when the fire is on the tops of trees.

I got my information from four different books and websites
- Fires-By Tami Deedrick
- http://clearyexplained.com/nature/earth/disasters/05extrainfo.html
- http://library.thinkquest.org/10136/bushfire/bushtqu.htm
- http://www.kidcyber.com.au/