Wildfires blackened nearly 8.8 million acres in the United States last year, highlighted in the news by California’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in that state’s history.

One of the many things that make wildfires so difficult to contain is the effect a fire has on local winds, which can move the fire in unexpected directions with virtually no notice. But, now, technology is being tested that may help firefighters keep pace with a blaze – increasing their safety and allowing them to better position their limited resources.

Xiaolin Hu, director of Georgia State University’s Systems Integrated Modeling and Simulation lab, is heading a project that develops drones to collect real-time data about wildfires, including fire front data and wind data in the wildfire area. USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture is funding the project.

“Fires generate heat that can have a major impact on local wind/weather conditions,” Hu said. “The constant interaction between fire and atmosphere causes dynamic and local changes in wind speed and direction that are not predicted well by standard weather models or expert judgment. The real time data collected by [drones] can help firefighters by providing fire location and fire spread information – and issue an “early warning” to firefighters if they are in danger.”

Hu and research partners Haiyang Chao, director of the University of Kansas’ Cooperative Unmanned Systems lab, and Ming Xin, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of Missouri, are testing their “KHawk” drone over prescribed fires, and building new drones for autonomous sensing, navigation, and control. The new aerial platform features autopilot, thermal camera, and other specialized avionics.

The drones will perform test flights over prescribed fires ranging from 20 to 300 acres every year until 2022 to collect data on fire propagation and fire generated wind. The team is also seeking opportunities to collaborate with Kansas/Missouri Forest Service to fly over non-prescribed wildfires.

The drones will fly autonomously, given real-time wind/fire data and predicted fire spread information, under the supervision of human pilots and control station operators on the ground.

“The ultimate goal is to support the decision making of fire managers and improve safety for firefighters on the ground,” Hu said. “An important aspect of this project is to develop collaboration where fire managers and firefighters work together with drones in collaborative tasks.”
"Wildfires blackened nearly 8.8 million acres in the United States last year, highlighted in the news by California’s Camp Fire, the deadliest in that state’s history."

Which best describes the rhetorical use of this sentence in this passage?

A) The sentence opens the passage with a powerful and dramatic fact that arrests the reader's attention.
B) The sentence starts off the passage with a reference to an important and crucial authority on drones.
C) The sentence begins the passage by asking the reader to consider a deeply difficult philosophical question.
D) The sentence introduces the idea of drones to the reader to prepare for the later discussion of drones in the passage.

Preparing for a group discussion the first step in participating in a group discussion is to understand the purpose and process of a group discussion. your approach to a group discussion will differ from other assignments, such as writing a research paper. read through the discussion guidelines to understand how you should prepare for a group discussion assignment. your discussion process for this task, you’ll need to work as part of a group of three or four students who can meet together for a face-to-face or virtual discussion. your teacher will identify a process for this task that fits your learning situation. for instance, if you’re working primarily on your own in this course with no on-site classmates (self-paced course), the process will be a little different than if you are learning with at least two other students in the same building and on the same schedule (group-paced course). discussions in those two cases are outlined below. group-paced course the teacher organizes groups or enables students to self-organize. in the discussion session, students take turns presenting their thesis and then discussing each thesis with the group. one student (not the presenter) acts as a discussion facilitator. the discussion will be a round-robin, rotating the presenter and facilitator roles for each thesis. plan to spend at least 15 minutes to present and discuss each thesis. refer to the discussion summary below. you will want to take brief notes during the discussion so that you can easily complete the discussion summary afterwards. self-paced course you will find at least two people to participate in this discussion with you. they could be classmates from other courses, friends, or siblings. they should be roughly your age, if possible, so you can have a thoughtful discussion with peers. you will set a time and place for the discussion and share the discussion guidelines for them to read prior to the discussion. you will be the only presenter for this discussion. you will also play the role of facilitator. you will present your thesis and then discuss it with your group. your invited group members are only required to be active, thinking participants. except for reading through the discussion guidelines ahead of time, they do not have to prepare for the discussion beforehand or do any follow-up afterwards. since you will be presenting and facilitating during the discussion, you may want to ask one of the participants to take brief notes for you on key points that come up during the discussion. these notes will you compose your discussion summary below. since there is only one thesis to discuss, plan to spend at least 30 minutes presenting and discussing your thesis. here is an outline of the whole process for this task: 1. you will formulate a thesis and outline a set of points that support your thesis. this may include some initial research. 2. depending upon your learning situation, you may need to organize the discussion group, place, and time. 3. read the discussion guidelines for how to conduct, facilitate, or participate constructively in a discussion with your peers. 4. the group meets to discuss the theses for your learning situation: the discussions should be fair, democratic, and orderly. each member of the group should have an opportunity to express their views; all members should actively contribute to the discussion. group members should show respect for others' views and make their points politely. the goal of the discussion is to gather opposing viewpoints and additional perspectives that would support or oppose your thesis. each participant should come to the discussion prepared to the presenter deepen the understanding of the topic. 5. after you've discussed your thesis, you will complete the discussion summary section below and submit it to your teacher. leading a discussion be sure that all the participants have read the discussion guidelines before beginning your discussion. with three or four peers, start the discussion by presenting your thoughts and findings from your research. present a question to the group to begin the discussion. allow your group to ask you follow-up questions. using an audio recording tool, record the questions your team asks as well as your response to these questions. finally, consider how the discussion changed or influenced your initial research and thoughts about the discussion questions. you will submit your responses to the questions asked in the discussion summary. use your notes from your research and your discussion to you complete the summary. discussion summary part a using an audio recording tool, record the names of the discussion participants below. if you organized the discussion, using an audio recording tool, record how you know each person and summarize how you chose and invited the participants and how you organized the time and place for the discussion.

It is clearly expressed. what does that mean?

Examine the imagery in these lines of the poem "the legend" by garrett hongo. he is asian, thai or vietnamese, and very skinny, dressed as one of the poor in rumpled suit pants and a plaid mackinaw, dingy and too large. he negotiates the slick of ice on the sidewalk by his car, opens the fairlane's back door, leans to place the laundry in, and turns, for an instant, toward the flurry of footsteps and cries of pedestrians as a boy—that's all he was— backs from the corner package store shooting a pistol, firing it, once, at the dumbfounded man who falls forward, grabbing at his chest. how does the imagery in these lines affect the reader’s experience of the poem? check all that apply. it creates a visual picture of the man. it conveys what the scene sounds like. it describes the actions of the boy. it reveals the poet’s opinion of the characters. it encourages readers to care for the characters. it shows the resolution of a conflict. it explains the reasons for the event.