What is Fire?

The Importance of Fire—Explained for Elementary School

Fire has always existed. Along with air, water, and earth, it is one of the four elements without which no life on our planet would be possible. Have you already covered the topic of fire in elementary school science? The benefits, rules for handling fire, and its history are already discussed in detail in many elementary schools. Along with several positive aspects, fire can also be dangerous, and can destroy life. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a fire to get out of control. For example, a forgotten candle can set the whole house on fire.

The Importance of the Sun Explained

Fortunately for every living thing, there is the sun. Without it, the earth would be too cold to live on and there would also be no light. Although, in space, temperatures reach -450 degrees Fahrenheit ( -268 °C), the enormous power of the sun manages to warm the earth to pleasant temperatures. This made life on earth possible in the first place. However, when it is very hot and dry, these sun rays can also become dangerous and start forest fires, for example.

How Humans Discovered Fire

In addition to the sun, there were already volcanic eruptions thousands of years ago, in which hot magma was ejected from the earth's interior and set things on fire. Most likely, humans came into contact with fire due to natural events like these. Even Stone Age humans were interested in fire and were able to observe how trees started to burn after being struck by lightning. Thus, the first humans dared to start fires in the Stone Age and found out that they could take fire into their caves with the help of burning branches. While humans were initially dependent on fire that arose "randomly," they later learned to create it themselves. This was done, for example, by friction of a branch with flint stones. However, this was still very hard work and not comparable to today.

The Uses of Fire for Humans – From Past to Present

Even our ancestors in the Stone Age realized that they could use fire to their advantage. It served as a source of light and warmth in their cave and protected them against wild animals at the same time. Additionally, they were now able to cook their meat after hunting, making the food much more digestible. The Romans also used fire to illuminate their houses with oil lamps and candles. In contrast to the Stone Age, the fire no longer burned openly, and it was also possible to have lighting outside their living space at night with the help of burning gas lanterns. Another great advantage of fire was the ability to forge tools and weapons in the embers. This enabled humans to defend themselves against stronger creatures and ensured the survival of humanity. Additionally, practical everyday items such as bowls and jugs were fired in kilns at extremely hot temperatures, making them more stable. Today, everything is much easier, and we can create fire as needed with a lighter or matches. Nevertheless, we still depend on combustion in our everyday lives. For example, our electricity is partly generated in coal and gas power plants and our cars are driven by combustion. Furthermore, we still require heat to produce everyday materials from iron or aluminum in blast furnaces. Thus, fire is an important part of our lives, without which humans would never have come this far.

Rules for Handling Fire

In spite of its many positive aspects, you still must learn to handle fire properly, otherwise it can lead to serious accidents. You probably know that you have to keep a safe distance at a campfire, or that you can burn yourself on a hot stove plate. Ideally, you should never leave a fire unattended and only blow out the candles on your birthday cake under the supervision of an adult. If something should still go wrong, fortunately, there is the fire department. They know how to put out even large fires.

The Importance of Fire – Summary

Today, we learned how fire is important for human life on earth is. The sun, an inconceivably large ball of fire in space, is one of the reasons that life on earth can exist. But fire can be named as one of the reasons why civilization is possible. Without fire, we would have no warmth, no cooked food, and no light. But fire can also be dangerous! So watch out for these rules when dealing with a fire:

If you want to learn more about how fire originates and what fire needs to burn, you can watch the video how fire burns. There are interactive exercises as well as printable worksheets waiting for you after watching the video.