Campfire admirers

Before you begin

• This activity is in three parts and you might want to run it over multiple sessions, on a half-day or during a camp. The first part of this activity involves building fires, so you’ll need somewhere suitable to do this, where you have permission to build fires. The next part involves cooking, so everyone will need to be asked in advance to plan a recipe and share the ingredients and equipment they’ll need. Take the opportunity to ask about food allergies and dietary requirements too. You could use your own recipes, or those from the Go Outdoors ‘Campfire Cookbook.’ Campfire nachos, breakfast burritos, calzone, cabbage burgers and roast chicken are all dishes that’ll work well.
• Risk assess this activity carefully and use the hints and tips provided by Scout Adventures here.
• Those working towards their Scouts Scientist Badge should either plan and run their own experiment or use what they learn to share the science with others once they’ve completed the activity. Let them know in advance.
• You could ask for a STEM Ambassador to help deliver science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) activities in your programme. Go to the website and register as a ‘youth and community’ group. There, you can share requests for support.

Build your fire

1. Everyone should split into pairs or small groups and gather everything they think they’ll need for building a fire. This should include a full fire bucket that’s ready to use.
2. Gather together tinder like small twigs and dried grass, and then some thicker branches and logs. Groups should be careful to only collect dead wood, but they should look out for different types. Pile these by their fire area in order of size.
3. Everyone should start to build their fire. Each group could use a different structure for a more scientific approach. They should see which shapes and styles produce the biggest/hottest/most resilient blazes.

4. An adult should check each fire shape is safe and secure, and that each fire bucket is full. Tie up long hair or loose clothing. Now, everyone can light their fire with their chosen method. Make a note of the fire shape, how fast the flame catches, how quickly the wood burns, how long the fire lasts and how big/hot it gets.

5. Groups could keep their fires going to see how often they need fuelling, how easy they are to control and whether they’re suitable for cooking on. Different wood types could also be burned to see how they compare.
6. Once everyone has collected all of their information, they should check in with the other groups and see how their fires fared. Discuss which fires were the easiest to light and manage, and how well suited each type of fire was to different purposes, like campfire cooking, keeping warm at night, making smoke signals or illuminating the area. Think about which might be easiest to light in a storm.

 

Get cooking!

1. Now that everyone’s investigated fire structures, it’s time to cook. Everyone should stay in the same groups. Explain to everyone the three kinds of heat transfer described in the ‘Fire factoids’: ‘conduction,’ ‘convection’ and ‘radiation’. Everyone will be cooking using different methods, which involve different kinds of heat transfer that need investigating.
2. Everyone should take their pre-prepared recipes, ingredients and equipment and decide on the most suitable way to cook each dish. They need to look at the different ways their fire gives off heat, what structure fire they’ll need and what kind of wood they should use. 

3. Once they’ve settled on these criteria, prepare the fire as before, or use a fire that’s been kept alight and is suitable for cooking.

4. Prepare and cook the meals. Hands should be washed thoroughly after lighting the fire and before touching food and any food should be prepared in a clean environment. Groups could assign roles, with some people keeping the fire hot and some preparing the meal, to make this easier.
5. Serve the meal when it’s cooked and dig in. Double-check any meat or fish is well cooked before tasting. While everyone’s eating, think about how well each fire worked as a heat source, what it was like keeping the fire going until the food was ready and if anyone would do anything differently next time.

 

The perfect marshmallow

1. Everyone should now use what they’ve learned making fires and cooking dinner on them to toast perfect marshmallows. Start by soaking each wooden skewer in water for about half an hour (submerged, not floating) to be wet enough to not catch fire easily.
2. While waiting for this, everyone could think about what kind of fire is best for toasting marshmallows. Consider the structures and fuel to use for the best results. Build and light the agreed-upon fire, or reuse a fire that’s been kept alight and is suitable for cooking.
3. Spear a marshmallow on a wet skewer and carefully hold it close to the hot fire. Think about what happens to the marshmallow as it cooks, how they look, smell and taste, how it’s colour changes. Look out for any that catch fire or drop off the skewer. Think about the methods of cooking used earlier and repeat the process with a second marshmallow, using one of the three kinds of heat transfer to find the best way of cooking the perfect marshmallow (gooey and hot inside, without getting too scorched on the outside).

4. Everyone should write down what they thought the perfect method was for cooking marshmallows. These should refer to the science of cooking and fire-making. The instructions could be passed on to another group for them to try.