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$20

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Engineering Deepdive: Electric Grid Disaster - The California Camp Fire

Completed by 4 learners
Ages 14-18
Live One-Time Class
In this one-time class, your student will be introduced to the world of engineering by learning the exact mechanisms that led to the spark that caused the California Camp Wildfire, the 2nd deadliest wildfire in US history.
Average rating:
4.4
Number of reviews:
(13 reviews)

Live video meetings
Meets once
1-3 learners per class
55 min

What's included

1 live meeting
55 mins in-class hours

Class Experience

US Grade 9 - 12
Beginner Level
In 2018, a failure in a utility transmission tower sparked the deadliest wildfire in California history. In this class, students will learn about the series of events that led to this disaster. 

This is an engineering-leaning class. We will mainly focus on the failure of the physical components of the transmission tower. We will also touch on climate change and how utility companies function. Below are some of the topics we will cover.

What we will cover:
• Transmission tower/lines basics
• The problem with our infrastructure
• The failure point
• The aftermath
• Solutions for the future

This class is great for students who are interested in electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, environmental engineering, climate change, or environmental science. 

*Due to the nature of this topic please see the parental guidance section

Other Details

Parental Guidance
This wildfire ultimately resulted in 85 deaths. While we will not go into detail about these deaths but they are brought up in class as a result of the wildfire. Our main focus is on the engineering aspect of what happened and how we can avoid it in the future. Regulations may come up as one of the solutions in class during the discussion (Ex: A student might bring up "regulations should be put in place to make sure the utility company is monitoring the safety of their equipment").
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Sources
The Camp Fire Public Report: https://htv-prod-media.s3.amazonaws.com/files/pge-the-camp-fire-public-report-1592448040.pdf CALFire: https://www.fire.ca.gov/our-impact/remembering-the-camp-fire National Institue of Standards and Tech: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/news/2021/02/new-timeline-deadliest-california-wildfire-could-guide-lifesaving-research An Animated Map of the Camp Fire's Rampage: https://www.nist.gov/image/animated-map-camp-fires-rampage CA CampFire Structure Status Map: https://wildfiretoday.com/2018/11/13/cal-fire-releases-map-showing-status-of-structures-affected-by-camp-fire/ A Case Study of the Camp Fire (Response): http://resources.firesafemarin.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/NIST.TN_.2252.pdf Interactive map: Compare size of fire to US cities https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-wildfires-2018-size-compare-us-cities-map-n935946

Meet the teacher

4.4
13reviews
Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Bachelor's Degree in Science from University of California, San Diego
I have a B.S. in Environmental Engineering. I am also from California and lived there when this event took place.

Reviews



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