The first map is a GIS overlay model and the second map is derived from the calculations we had using the BEHAVE software provided by the US Forest Service Fire and Aviation. This is a tiny little program that uses data that you input for variables such as Fuel Model, Moisture, Wind Speed, and Slope called BEHAVE Plus.
For the design of the map itself, I tried to use colors on top of the DEM and took it possibly a little too far. I wanted my maps to look really detailed and interesting, because my classmates maps looked really poor if you just lay the DEM on top and don't do much else to it in Arc. I did some experimentation in the "Image Analysis" screen including some pansharpening and other blending tweaks. This went beyond what the assignment was requesting, but I'm glad I took the time to do this. The "image analysis" window has almost what seems endless options to manipulate images, I really couldn't believe how powerful it was.
In the end though I probably should have kept the DEM black and white rather than use colors, because the resulting legend does not match the colors on the map. Lesson learned!