Year 6 are learning about fire construction and safety.
This week more children learned how to build a fire, we discussed how different shaped fires can be constructed for different purposes. How the shape will direct where the main heat source is and how we can use this to our advantage. Outside the children continued with their fire striker practice and collected natural materials they thought may catch a spark. Meanwhile some children collected any materials that they could find so we could experiment with how things burn.
Understanding the risks associated with fire is incredibly important, the children were shocked to see how some plastics burn and the noxious smoke that come off even a tiny piece of plastic, and we were outdoors! They tried to predict what would happen to each material. We looked at different fabrics and the children were shocked to discover how most man-made fibres would actually melt and bond with the skin very quickly, potentially causing a greater degree of damage. The biggest surprise was the pillow stuffing. The children thought about how many pillows or cushions they had in their homes, we only burnt a tiny amount but the smell and smoke were still strong. They decided that natural materials were definitely the safest things to use on fire.
Principle 4: Forest School offers learners the opportunity to take supported risks appropriate to the environment and to themselves.
Article 19: We all have the right to be protected and kept safe.
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- A natural sponge gave off hardly any smell, smouldered slowly, never really bursting into flame.
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- After natural sponge the children tried a man made version which quickly melted into a black sticky blob and gave off dark smoke.
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- Green grass would be good for a signal fire, look at all that white smoke as the water evaporates.
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- Nylon melted and fused to the wood below.
