Alright, hello lo Elaine. Are you ready to start? Hello. Hello. How are you today? I'm good. Is it Aline? Yes. Aline, yes, good. My name is Amber and I' M1 of the tutors here at Bever. Okay. And today we're doing a science trial lesson, aren't we? All right. Yeah, all. Now I haven't seen anybody else join, so it may just be you, eline. Okay, that's fine, isn't it? All right, so today we are going to be talking about materials and their properties. Okay? So what makes materials special, what properties they have and in particular we are talking about bushfires. Okay? So do you know what a bushfire is, Aline? Oh, maybe there are fire that happens in the bush. Exactly. Yes, that's right. Okay. So a bushfire is a fire through bushland or forests and generally spreads quickly. Bushfires can threaten wildlife, the environment, property and life, okay? So bushfires in Australia are managed through controlled burns during the cooler months. Okay. So controlled burns. This is where the firefighters burn the land in controlled situations. It's also known as prescribed burning or hazard reduction burning. Okay. Why do you think it could be a hazard reduction? So why could it reduce hazards having a controlled burn, do you think elenen, after they burned down the bushes, other fires, uncontrollable fires, will like go to the bushes and then create some big fires? Yeah, it's more likely or less likely, aren't they to have bushfarers in the summer months if they have controlled burns in the cooler months, I suppose. Okay, right. Okay. So burning in controlled situations, would you like to read that spit Berine burning in control situations ensures the chances of bushfires spreading and causing danger in fire prone areas during the fire season and kept to a minium. This is because fire needs to needs fuel to burn. And by burning the land prior to the fire season, the firefighters remove the futhat. The fire needs to become a dangerous bushfire. Lovely reading. Thank you, Elaine. So what do you understand about the word fuel? It's like it's like for example, a car needs futo go and the feel of a car is gas. Good. Yes, well done. Okay. So that's the American word. Guess in England or the uk, we call it petrol. Okay? But yes, that's right. So a car needs fuel. Even our bodies need fuel, don't they? To run, what fuel do we need for our bodies? We need food, water. Yes, food did not feel okay. So what fuel do you think the bushfires need? I think they need a bush, they need oxygen, and also I think they need something that caused the fire. Yes. So we're going to talk a little bit more about what fires actually need in a little while. Okay, thinking about the fuel, the main one you can see in the picture, can't you elileen what's in the picture? What's burning? Branches. Yeah. So trees and bushes. Okay. The fuel of fire, aren't they? Bushfires, trees and bushes. Okay, right. So bushfires can cause I'm just going to read from here now, extensive damage to homes, farmland and bushlands. They can destroy animal homes and habitats and endanger the lives of people and animals. Okay? So it says discuss with a partner, but we'll discuss it together. How do bushfires begin? Okay. Ops, sorry. How do bushfires begin? Eline, what do you think? I think some people they might row row through stuff that is easy to burn inside a bush and and in some conditions that those those things will just burn and cause cause the bush to burn together. Okay, what sort ts of things do you think they might throw down? Maybe. I'm like, any idea? Maybe like. Something with fire and they haven't like actually put it down and they just throw it in. Yeah one of the main causes is cigarettes, okay? If people smoke, Yeah throwing their cigarette down onto the ground, okay? Cigarette, maybe even people having barbecues, okay. I often say in warmer weather do not have barbecues, okay? Out in the open, all right? Because if you leave a barbecue that's still burning a little bit, it can catch fire to the land around it. It's okay and the grass and things alright, right? So. Bushfires happen a lot in the usa and Australia. Homes that are prepared for bushfire season are better protected when bushfires occur in Australia, the fire season varies depending on the specific location. So depending on which part of Australia people live in, the fire season could be in different months. Generally the fire season is during the hot dry months of summer and autumn. However, in the north of Australia, so at the top it is during the dry season, which is winter. Okay, that's interesting, isn't it? So in the winter time, the north of Australia is more likely to have bushfires. In the summer, it's dance south, okay, more further down in Australia fight, okay. Why do you think this might be so? Why do you think, alenen, that bushfires are going to happen in the hot, dry months of summer? Or a dry season in winter in the south of Australia biraround the because if if it's dry, there won't be enough water to put the fire down. Okay? Yeah there might not be enough water yet to put it out. Okay. Why do you think a fire is more likely to start or spread in dry season? In like a wet season, water will be in the in the like in the air. More water will be in the air. So the fire won't be able to spread that fast. And when the firefighters saw it, they can put it down easily. Good. Yes. Okay. So it's not so much to do with firefighters having enough water, it's more to do with the humidity you said about the water in the air. Okay? So that's called humidity. Have you heard of that word before, Aline? Yeah, Yeah. So humidity means the amount of water in the air, doesn't it? Okay? Or the amount of moisture in the air, okay? So in the dry season there will be less humidity, okay? So less water in the air. And also in the dry season, the plants are going to have less water in them. They're going to be dry, aren't they? The grass and the ground will be very dry, the plants won't have much water and there might be dead plants even, okay? Dead grass and things like that. That will be easy to catch fire, okay, and set alilight. All right, so we've got to think about the plants being very dry as well. Okay, right. Shall we have a quick look at a video now? Okay, so we're going to watch a quick video about bushfires in Australia. You can see here the map of Australia, can't you? From above. Okay, like a bird's eye view. Here we go. Across the country, fire seasons are getting longer. Since the 19 seventies, fire weather seasons have been starting earlier and becoming more intense. Abnormal fire potential is currently predicted for large parts of southern Australia. About half of all fires are caused by lightning, the rest deliberately or accidentally lit. To take off, firing oxygen, heat and fuel. Strong gusty winds not only fanning flames, but providing more oxygen. A doubling in wind speed causes fire to spread four times as fast fire travels more quickly up a slope then down. The more steep the slope, the faster and more intense the fire, making the riskiest place to build a house on top of a hill. But it's Amber attacks that cause nearly all structural damage. Amattack is the most common way houses catch fire during a bushfire. Amattack occurs when small burning twigs, leaves and bark are carried by the wind, landing in and around houses and their gardens. In yarlup in 2016, 160 homes and two lives were lost. The town hit by an ember ber storm. The fire generated a smoke plume 14 km high, punching into the stratosphere and created its own thunderstorm, generating lightning and sparking more fires. Eucalyptus trees, which dominate landscape, can be extremely flammable. Stringy bark can act like a ladder, carrying fire into the canopy and producing masses of embers. Their fragrant oil, much like any oil, adds to their flammability. Vines are also great ladders for spreading fire, just as we did decades ago. Firefighting is still done by people. Many of them are volunteers. And as bushfire seasons extend, particularly in fireprone areas, those resources will be further stretched. Okay, did you hear anything interesting in the video? Elileen? Yes, there's there's on leaef and twigs and things like that that will be carried from down the hill to off the hill and into houses and it will cause big fire. Exactly. Well done. That was called an ember attack, wasn't it? Okay, so we cool those Yeah those bits burning that come off of fire embers. Okay, so it's called an ember attack. Yes. And that's how many fire, how many houses set fire, isn't it, from bushfires? What I found really interesting, and I should have mentioned earlier when we were talking about the causes of bushfires, okay, not only can many causes be accidental from cigarettes and barbecues, but loare caused by lightning. Did you hear that? Did you hear that? Eline? The most common cause of bushfires is actually from lightning, from storms, okay? And we know that storms happen in the hotter months, don't they usually? Okay, so that was interesting. Okay. And then they said that one of the bushfires in Australia actually caused a storm and the lightning created more bushfires, didn't it? Did you hear that bit? Yes. Yeah. Okay. So we have got a little diagram here on this page, okay, showing the three elements that Bushor the fires need to ignite to start. Okay? So bushfires tend to be at their most devastating when the temperatures are high, the humidity is low. So that means there's less moisture in the air and the winds are strong. Okay, why do you think having strong winds would mean that fires are more devastating? What do you think, Helen? Because it will Carry more oxygen to the fire. And in the diagram it said that you need oxygen to to have a fire. And also the wind will Carry fire elsewhere. Yes, that's what I was going to say. The wind will Carry the fire, won't it? And allow it to spread much quicker. Okay? These are the conditions that bushfires thrive on, and they use these conditions to spread quickly. Fire needs three things to be able to burn. Without all three of these elements, fire cannot ignite. Ignite means to start. Okay? So fire needs oxygen, fuel and heat. Okay. So oxygen, do you want to read this part about oxygen or acyline? When oxygen, when we burn fuel, we are creating a reaction between the fuand oxygen. This energy is released in the form of fire. It. Well done. And then hit at to this one. Heat, the fuel must be heated to ignition temperature in order to cause combution. As long as there is enough heat, the fire will continue to burn. Tion. Okay, that's interesting, isn't it? So the fire must be heated to a certain temperature, okay, to continue to burn. And then fuel at the bottom. Whoops, sorry, there we go. Okay, when there is a large quantity of fuel for the fire to burn, the temperature will increase and intensity of the fire will rise. Lovely reading, wild Daline, okay, so let's have a look at different types of fuel. We talked a little bit about fuel earlier, didn't we? Okay. And the fuel of a bushfire being mainly trees and bushes, so wood, didn't we? But here are some other kinds of fuel for a fire. Alright, right? We've got gases, okay, such as natural gas, propane and carbon monoxide solids. We said, didn't we? How would so trees, paper, plastic and hay. Well, hay, do you know what hay is elenen? Those grass that is driand and and animals eat it. Yes, exactly. So dry grass. Okay. So a really good fuel for a fire is dry grass, which is why they happen in dry season in places like Australia and the usa. Okay? Then we also have some liquids that can be a fuel, such as turpentine. So turpentine is used to clean paint brushes. It's very strong smelling. Okay? Paint, varnish, olive oil. So oil, we know cooking oil, okay, burns very well, doesn't it? And kerosene, all right. So if you see an electrical fire, so if you have an electrical item that catches fire, why would it not be a good idea to use water to put it out? So why shouldn't we use water on a fire that has caught fire on an electrical device? What do you think? Maybe maybe the water will make the fire more more big because it is electric, electrical and and maybe it's and the water is like it can Carry electric stuff and and when you want and you put water and when you when you touch the water, maybe it you'll be electrocuted. Yes, exactly. Eline. Well done. That's the reason, isn't it? Okay, water and electricity do not do not mix very well, so you can get electrocuted if you touch something with wet hands, can't you? Okay, so we mustn't use water to put out an electrical fire, okay, right. Good. So the hotter and drithe weather is, the more likely it is for a fire to Spark and spread. Wind can be a major influence as it pushes the fire forward. A strong wind can push a fire a long way quickly and can cause humidity to reduce, leaving little moisture in the air. Okay. So let's have a look at land. Would you like to read this one, eline? The slope of the land plays a big role in how quickly a fire can spread. If a fire is moving uhill ill, the fire will spread much faster than if the fire was moving downhill. We saw that in the video, didn't we? Do you remember? Yeah Yeah, I wonder why that is. What do you think? I think the air, maybe the air or wind is going upwards, so the fire will go upwards with it. Yeah, I think it might be I'm not 100% sure, Elaine, but I think it might be because the flames obviously go upwards, don't they? Okay, I think but the flames are sort of because they reach upwards, they're sort of reaching, they can go up a slope easier than down because because of the way that they're traveling, the flames traveling upwards, if you imagine a slope going down, the flames are traveling up arenthey. So it's less likely that they're going to catch fire to this land down here. It's more likely that they're going to keep traveling up, isn't it, and catch fire to this land that's a bit closer to the top of the flames, I think. Okay. Preparation what are some strategies that you can think of that may help prepare your house for the fire season? Write as many of your ideas down and tick your ideas, your answers as they pop up below. Okay, do you have a piece of paper and a pen or pencil with you, eline? Yes, lovely. Okay. So you can just make a quick list of any things you think you could do to prepare your house for fire season. Okay? So how could you stop your house from catching fire if there was a bushfire nearby, okay, or in fire season? Tell. How he gets along. I've written four ideas. Oh, okay, should we talk about them? Okay. The first one is to always prepare water or things that can like put fire out. Yes, that's always a good idea too. Okay, good. What's your second idea? The second one is to always remember the telephone of the firefighters. Yes, Stephanie. Yeah. Okay. Number three. The third one is to move to a place near the ground. Okay. Do you mean not on the top of a hill? Yeah, yes, very important. Yes. Well done. Good. The the last one is to prevent leaves or branches to get in the house. Yes. Oh, very good ideas there, eline. Well done. Okay, let's see what we've got here. Turn off air conditioning. If a fire is approaching, air conditioning unit, suck in air around them and fires spit out embers that travel through the air and can get sucked into the units. Okay, make sure the gutters are cleared of dried leaves. The leaves in the gutters are fuel for the fire to burn. You sort of had that, didn't you, eline? That was one of yours. Well done. Install a water pump to give emergency services access to additional water sources while trying to save your home. You did say that as well. Make sure you've got enough water. Didn't you have an emergency survival kit and procedure ready in order to keep help keep your family calm and know what they need to be doing in case of a fire? Okay. And mark water sources on your property for the emergency services. Even though the fire brigade have their fire trucks with them, they may be able to use your hoses and water for additional help. Okay? Then we've got stwood, paint, chemicals, newspapers and fuel away from the house. This is because we want to keep the things that will burn as far away from the home as possible. And if on a larger property, you should have a fire brainstalled around your property. This is a clearing of land which can be done by bobcat, which reremoves the fuel for the fire. Okay? So don't have any trees or bushes Neby or near to your house. Okay? So if we're looking at this house in the picture, how safe do you think this house would be in a bushfire situation? What could we do to improve its safety, do you think? Colleen, I see there's too much bushes around the house. There are some trees nearby, aren't there? Yeah, this one here and this one here. Anything else? There are lots of branches on the ground Yeah there are some things on the ground here aren't they Yeah okay we also need to think about what the walls of the house are made of okay if there would made that's very likely to catch fire isn't it okay if they brick that's less likely to catch fire and this lean to here that looks like it's made of wood as well here okay. We should also think about what's stored in the sheds here. There are some other sheds, aren't there on the land here, okay. What the roof is made out of? Where is the water source? And as you said, how close are the trees and shrubs to the house? Okay. So. We've talked really about what are some things that the owners could do to prepare their house for fire season, haven't we? Okay. So how have you selected? So let's think about okay, let's quickly talk about this one, Aline, before we finish. Okay, you are going to design a device that people in Australia can attach to their house to help it fight a fire as it approaches. It should be a device that can automatically be triggered as the house will be vacant by the time the fire approaches. Okay? So it's got to be a device that can be triggered without anybody in the house to do it. Think about the fire triangle and which of the three elements your device will extinguish if that element is on fire. So when we think about a device that might help put out a fire that can be triggered automatically, what do you think? I think we could put like cameras around the house so that so that the machine can see if there's fire coming around. And and I think I think we should put something that's very cold inside the machine and one, and once the it's triggered, it will like bsome very cold things outside and because the fire needs heat to burn and the fire will be put out when it's not, when it temperature is not so hot. Okay, so you would have it blow up cold energy, would you? Yeah. Just remember though, that wind actually helps fires to spread, doesn't it? Because it spreads the embers. Okay. So I was thinking about some sort of sprinkler system that can be triggered automatically by heat maybe Yeah okay. Or by smoke. It would have to be triggered, wouldn't it? Automatically on its own, okay, after people have left a building or something. Yeah. So I imagine some sort of sprinkler. Do you know what a sprinkler is? Yeah. It's like those stuff that you use to water plants. Yeah Yeah so you do have them in buildings as well. But release water, okay when there's a fire, right? We have come to the end of our lesson, eline, so thank you very much. We had a very good discussion today, didn't we, about bushfires? Well done. I loved some of your answers and you participated really well, so well done. Okay, I hope you enjoyed our lesson, and I hope to see you again soon. All right, I'll say bye dbye for now. Bye bye, Eileen. Well done today. Bye.