fire
Article
Investigating fire – key terms
Learning to manage this chemical reaction What actually is fire? How does it start? How and why does it behave in different ways? How can we...
Teacher PLD
Fire – unit plan
Fire is generally portrayed as frightening and destructive by the media. Humans have increasingly been able to manage fire by improved detection ability and improved fire...
Article
Alternative conceptions about fire
These are some common misunderstandings about fire. They acknowledge that children have made reasonable sense of the ideas based on their experience and should be validated...
Activity
Ethics in fire science
In this activity, students develop critical thinking through ethical discussion of the question: Should chemical fire retardants be added to furniture? By the end of this...
Activity
Fire in Antarctica
In this activity, students read online articles related to fire in Antarctica and discuss why fire is a big hazard there. By the end of this...
Activity
Fire safety
In this activity, students discuss a number of scenarios involving fire risk, become familiar with the school fire safety plan and create a plan for their...
Activity
Fire risk assessment
In this activity, students identify and define fire risks, outdoors and indoors, using a provided image of a rural scene and an indoor scene they draw...
Activity
Exploding Flour
In this activity, students observe the teacher igniting flour when it is in a basic combustion chamber. By the end of this activity, students should be...
Activity
The flying tea bag
In this activity, students observe an empty tea bag that is set alight. The burning causes a column of hot air and gas from combustion to...
Activity
Putting out the fire
In this activity, students investigate different ways of extinguishing fire and how this is related to their knowledge of the fire triangle and fire chemistry. By...
Activity
The great candle experiment
In this activity, students cover a lit candle with an inverted jar in a saucer of water. The flame expires and the water rises up in...
Activity
Light a candle
In this activity, students take a closer look at a candle flame as an example of a flame that occurs in most natural fires and observe...
Activity
Drama in the microworld
In this activity, students use drama to model science ideas about atoms and molecules, transferring heat and the process of combustion. By the end of this...
Article
Dr Mike Spearpoint
Position: Research Leader at Olsson Fire & Risk. Field: Fire engineering. When we first interviewed Mike he was Associate Professor, Department of Civil and Natural Resources...
Article
Grant Pearce
Position: Extreme Fire Project Leader, Scion Field: Rural fire research Grant was interested in science and the natural environment at school. This continued at university, where...
Article
Lisa Langer
Position: Resilience to Wildfires Project Leader, Scion Field: Social research Lisa Langer is a social research scientist. One of her current areas of focus is social...
Article
Professor Charley Fleischmann
Position: Emeritus Professor, Department of Civil and Natural Resources Engineering, University of Canterbury. Principal research engineer, (FSRI). Field: Fire engineering, dynamics and research. Professor Charley Fleischmann’s...
Article
Stuart Anderson
Position: Currently Director of Fisheries Management, Ministry for Primary Industries. Previously Fire scientist, Scion. Field: Rural (vegetation) fire behaviour and management. Stuart began his career by...
Article
Chemical fire retardants
Chemical fire retardants help delay or prevent combustion, but there are potential health and environmental issues around the use and production of the chemicals, and the...
Article
Fire behaviour
Fires behave differently. Some burn slowly and evenly; others are extremely hot, burning fiercely and quickly. Different fires have different coloured flames. Some fires start easily;...
Article
Heat energy
Most of us use the word ‘heat’ to mean something that feels warm, but science defines heat as the flow of energy from a warm object...
Article
What is smoke?
What is smoke and why do some fires seem to have more smoke than others? Smoke is a collection of tiny solid, liquid and gas particles....
Article
What is fire?
Fire is the visible effect of the process of combustion – a special type of chemical reaction. It occurs between oxygen in the air and some...
Article
The fire danger sign and Bernie
Rural fire scientists study fire behaviour, and fire risk and use their findings to manage fire risk in the outdoors by developing tools that fire managers...