Experiments

Think you can design a hoverboard that’s not too hot to touch? Cool. The challenge is on.

Using the data from two burns in the fire science lab, students will make conclusions about the impact of ventilation on a fire. Students will present their ideas about why this understanding is critical for both firefighters and the women and men investigating the fire’s origin and cause.

Students watch the interactive video of our UL Fire Experts in the fire research lab to make observations of the timing, behavior, and smoke of different fuels as they burn. The video continues with the building of a calorimeter to measure the heat released from common household furnishings. If your classroom has the proper ventilation and equipment, directions are provided for building a calorimeter for classroom investigation.

Students make observations about how thermal energy is transferred and how transferred heat starts fires. Students compare the surface to mass ratio of a block of wood and a toothpick, then compare how easily they ignite. Students then make observations about how different materials ignite and burn.

The fire triangle is critical to ­fire ­fighting and fi­re investigation. Fire professionals must understand what are needs to burn and how eliminating one leg of the ­fire triangle can extinguish are. Why do ­fire ­fighters use water to put … Continued