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Finding the Carbon in Sugar

Author(s): Nancy P. Moreno, PhD, Barbara Z. Tharp, MS, and Judith Dresden, MS.
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What Happens When Wood Burns?

Ask students, Have you ever watched a campfire burn? What actually happens when you burn something? What does campfire wood look like after the fire goes out? Students should recognize that wood turns into ashes as it burns. When something burns, a chemical reaction occurs, in which the fuel—the thing that is burning—combines rapidly with oxygen, releasing energy as a byproduct.

Keywords: lesson | fire | wood | campfire | chemical change | oxygen | physical change
References:
  1. Photo of a small fire in a backyard fire pit courtesy of Jon Sullivan. Released into the public domain.
  2. Moreno N., and B. Tharp. (2011). The Science of Global Atmospheric Change Teacher’s Guide. Third edition. Baylor College of Medicine.

Funded by the following grant(s)

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIH

My Health My World: National Dissemination
Grant Number: 5R25ES009259
The Environment as a Context for Opportunities in Schools
Grant Number: 5R25ES010698, R25ES06932

Houston Endowment Inc.

Foundations for the Future: Capitalizing on Technology to Promote Equity, Access and Quality in Elementary Science Education