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, students should be able to:

  • use developing science knowledge of fire to develop critical thinking when considering issues involved in adding chemical fire retardants to furniture

  • explore issues in adding chemical fire retardants to furniture and make decisions about possible actions

  • understand that technology (the development of chemical fire-retardants) has an effect on society – people in New Zealand have a choice whether or not to buy fire retardant furniture.

Comparison burning of two sofas

This video compares the burning of a synthetic sofa with the burning of a sofa that has fire-retardant features - It has a woollen fabric covering and contains combustion-modified foam (foam with chemical fire retardants).

Rights: The University of Waikato

Download the Word file (see link below) for:

  • introduction/background notes

  • what you need

  • what to do

  • common ethical approaches

  • round robin teaching approach

  • PMI worksheet

  • What do you think? (self-assessment worksheet)

Published: 18 November 2009