Lesson Overview: In this activity, students describe and organize what they already know about fire so it fits into the conceptual model of the Fire Triangle. They examine the stability of a triangle and how that geometric property applies to fire.

Lesson Goal: Increase students’ understanding of how fires burn and why they go out. Objectives:

• Students can construct a triangle out of toothpicks and gumdrops, and can label its legs with the three components of the Fire Triangle.
• Students can demonstrate that removing one side of the triangle makes it collapse.
• Students can identify the component(s) of the Fire Triangle that are removed in various scenarios, and explain how this makes the fire go out.