The Science of a Campfire

To conclude an amazing Father's Day yesterday, my family and I built a fire in the portable fire pit and made smores.  I didn't fully realize this until later in the evening, but a campfire presents the perfect opportunity to share science with your kids.  My oldest daughter asked why I was cutting up little pieces of wood from the bigger logs.  I was able to explain to her that it's easiest to build a fire starting with small twigs/kindling.  Once the fire gets started you add slightly larger twigs, then medium sized logs, and finally a large sized logs.  She watched me blow into the fire when I was working on getting it started.  Another excellent science opportunity, this time explaining that a fire needs oxygen to burn.

Our fire, early in the evening.

I love watching camp fires.  There's something about the way the flames move and the glow of the embers under a dark sky that mesmerizes me.  After the kids went to bed, my wife and I kept the fire going for a couple of hours and it was during this time that I realized there's so much more science in a campfire.  Why does the wood turn gray/black?  What are coals and why do they glow red?  Where does the light come from?  What is that popping sound?  What happens to the wood?  These are just a few things that I hope to teach my daughter at some point in the future.

If you don't have a science background and aren't sure where to start, do a Google search on the questions above.  You'll be amazed at how quickly you'll learn the science of a campfire.