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.

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)