Are you smarter than a 14-year-old? The National Park Service has created two wildland fire quizzes, one for ages 6-9 and another for ages 10-14.
The questions on the quiz for the 10-14 year-olds are not as easy as you would think — I had no clue on one of them. And, I dispute the choices on the last question. It needs to be re-written. More info on that issue.
But, it’s a fun quiz, and might be of value in an educational environment. Congrats to the NPS for creating and posting these quizzes.
Check it out and post your score in a comment. I got nine out of ten on the 10-14 year old quiz.
Thanks to reading you comments I looked up fusain, yep I cheated & got 10 of 10, so maybe not smarter than a 10 yr old…Ben
8-10 missed last and fusain, guess I need to go back to school after 20 years fighting wildland fire.
I went over the instructional material and it’s good, useful information: several items are right out of S-130-190 classes. But in the “Did you know?” section it says, “Temperatures of fuels such as wood found in an open field may be warmed to as much as 160°F by the sun?” Correct, and that directly contradicts the answer to Q 10 of the older group’s test, which says sunlight doesn’t affect fires.
Gotcha. But the tests are a good idea and lots of fun. Now, just a little tweak, NPS, and you’re there.
I feel much less lonely after Bill’s and Teresa K’s remarks about fusain. Thank you both.
I agree with you all, that last question is not right. And fusain is a word that I dont think that Ive heard. And I am a wild land fire fighter, i guess i should have known?
The ThirtyMile Fire of 2001 became a killer because the sun worked on it for half a day. The NPS should change Q 10.
A nod to those of you who came up with “fusain,” which I confess I did not. It’s a great word, but the NPS definition is the No. 3 cited use in my dictionary, which means it’s close to obscure for the general public. Question: is “fusain” a generally familiar word within the fire community?
From my experience, “fusain” is a generally UNfamiliar word within the wildfire community. I have certainly never heard of it.
Have never heard it within the fire community.
I got 9/10, and ditto on what John T and Bill said. No clue on the one question, and the last one I think you could readily argue the “wrong” answer isn’t, as evidenced by a well-publicized fire behavior prediction system that relies heavily on that factor. My 11 year old son got 6/10.
Bill,
I agree with you on both counts. I am sure both of us missed the same question. I would bet not one firefighter in 1000 could answer it – probably fewer. Any student in the age brackets that does good on the tests is already well educated in fire.
5 out of 5 :[