High School Teachers Applaud the Chemistry of Fire
The Chemistry of Fire program was sent to high schools in the United States
and New Zealand
In 2008 SFPE partnered with Discovery Education to create a new in-school program
titled The Chemistry of Fire. The program was funded by a grant from the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security.
The Chemistry of Fire is geared to high school chemistry students. It will
teach students the science behind fire as a way for students to fully understand
the dangers of fire. As a result, it will increase the awareness of fire and
the importance of home fire prevention. The interactive program includes a teacher's
guide with five lesson plans, a DVD that demonstrates exciting experiments included
in the lessons, three classroom posters and a web site where teachers and students
can find more classroom and career resources.
"Each year in the United States more than 3,000 people die and 18,000
are injured as a result of fire. Our goal is to bring the science of fire to
the classroom as a way of increasing the awareness of fires and how to prevent
them," says Chris Jelenewicz, SFPE Engineering Program Manager. "It
fills a void in the high school chemistry curriculum because this information
isn't currently provided in any high school texts."
As part of this project, a microsite was developed that has videos and information
about careers in fire protection engineering. It can be found at: http://sfpe.discoveryeducation.com/site/.
"As a result of this partnership between Discovery and SFPE, high school
students across the U.S. will have access to a high-quality program that will
deliver enlightening and powerful fire-safety messages," said Mary Rollins,
director of sponsorships for Discovery Education. "This program will reach
thousands of teachers, students and families."
Currently, there is a nationwide shortage of fire protection engineers. Their
skills are necessary to protect people and property from the threat of fire.
These lessons will help students explore career opportunities in the field of
fire protection engineering.
The program was released to nearly 20,000 high school science department chairs
in January 2008.
If you would like a free copy of the Chemistry of Fire Program contact Chris
Jelenewicz at chris@sfpe.org.