17 replies to this topic

[Bailey]

Banging with Fireworks.Just spotted this flicking through the channels. She's got good reactions getting her hand out the way of the bp. Think their safety procedures are somewhat lax though. Good short explanations for any newbies!

Hope it sheds some light.


www.teachers.tv/

[Arthur Brown]

http://www.teachers.tv/video/20297

may be easier for the same video.

[seymour]

Some things made me cringe; "to make green a copper salt is used", "a salt is added to colour the smoke", there was a good opportunity to discuss the importance of surface area and incorporation with BP, but instead they managed to instead make Sulfur into quite a reactive beast.

As for safety, while I'm sure they knew exactly what the insert was, pretending not to and setting it off metres from a pile of stars and flash... Imagine if the insert was a titanium salute. Also, I am very confident of the ability for a rogue star to travel in any direction several metres if ignited unevenly, especially the perchlorate/magnalium type stars used in most modern fireworks.

However it was all good entertainment, and anything about fireworks will keep me happy, even if 'm taking down an extensive list of errors and examples of misinformation. Perhaps next time they want to make an educational video on fireworks they will approach the UKPS rather than the defense force laboratories!

[rocket]

I though the exact same thing as I was watching the video. I like it how she shows her years of experience by lighting a large pile of BP with a tiny smoldering stick. There thought on how whistle works was a bit off as well.

Edited by rocket, 13 November 2008 - 08:49 AM.

[yorkie]

I trust you all noticed the bit that said "of course it is totally illegal to attempt to disemble fireworks outside of this laboritory" I wouldnt want to see any of you getting into trouble

[David]

Teachers don't teach maths, or science , or history, they teach CHILDREN. Which explains why they know f**k all about anything else.

I've dabbled in teaching myself (really!)

Edited by David, 13 November 2008 - 08:41 AM.

[crystal palace fireworks]

Those are good points you made Seymour,

I thought overall it was a poorly made education video on many levels, why didn`t they talk in more depth about reactions of different comps? BP grain size? or different oxidisers? quantities? pressure & force in chambers of cardboard tubes etc?, or how a channel in the centre of a rocket works in more depth and why? and how it burns?, and also burn times of fuses and how this effects safety & timing?, If this vid was shot at a government lab - why didn`t they use time lapse cameras? or a simulated moving image of what what was going on?

Also, those gloves she was wearing may have given protection against chemical splashes, but were they suitable for fire protection?, and again the short sticks with match heads for lighting were unsuitable, she should have talked about the safety equipment she was wearing, plus give demo`s on what could happen to anyone who trys to dismantle a fireworks at home using household tools with someone wearing nylon enriched clothing for instance!.

If this video is distributed to schools, then Im concerned that kids will not adopt the right practices even if it is illegal to dismantal fireworks.

I would be interested to hear what others have to say on this vid or am I over reacting?

[knackers]

i agree cpf, i highly doubt it was sanctioned by the defence dept or any other govt department,, the fume hood extracter looked like a poly carbonate box with no extraction at all,, i may have been seeing things but the fumes looked like they were pouring out into the imediate atmosphere

[TCblastmaster]

Christ! Shocking video. Completely irresponsible and unsuitable for reasons too numerous to mention. Russian roulette as an educational tool!

I did particularly like advice given about the illegal nature of hacking the top off a sizeable rocket with a metal saw- perhaps the law to which they referred was Darwin's.

She did have very quick reactions.

I did enjoy watching the video though.

TC

[wjames]

they didnt show me anything like that in school.

Best i got was a roses tin filled with town gas...hole in the top, hole in the bottom.......

I didnt like the gloves......they give me the feeling they would melt, before sticking to your skin.

[portfire]

Indeed TC and these are suppose to be explosive experts, makes you think where they got their doctorate, online. Though, I would imagine they read the lable which would have said- Ejects stars and whistles, before stupidly hacking the header up but still from a safety point 95% was completely irresponsible

Edited by portfire, 13 November 2008 - 02:30 PM.

[Rip Rap]

I didnt like the gloves......they give me the feeling they would melt, before sticking to your skin.

That was my first thought - light a pile of BP with a 2 inch match while wearing latex gloves! (But they are scientists "with years of experience"!!)

[Asteroid]

I actually thought it wasn't too bad. Apart from the rocket dismantling and the BP, bearing in mind the target audience is not old enough to really become too involved with details, and especially not trying it at home, it was quite interesting and would do a good job to keep kids attention. While the saftey wasn't quite what I'd have expected, I think that some of the comments here are what I might expect from an overprotective mum. Kids don't need to be brought up in a bubble, and since the

I am guessing Keith J (in the comments section) is from here?

I do feel strongly about this. If children are taught incorrectly in the first place by being given misleading or incorrect information, how can they hope to understand a subject fully?

Having been through the education system recently, I can tell you that this goes on all the time in science, either for the saftey of the children, or just because it its thought of as complicating. Often the curriculum uses half-truths to explain things, simply because teachers are not trying to make kids smart, they are trying to make them pass exams (not the teachers fault, I must add). When they said about the copper salts in smoke, they are probably well aware that it's wrong, just they want to make sure the kids remember that copper gives a green flame.
It's a great shame, but I don't see it getting better any time soon.

Edited by Asteroid, 13 November 2008 - 06:09 PM.

[Mortartube]

Keith J is me. I just don't see what harm it is to tell the kids that Barium is used as a green colourant and not copper in commercial fireworks. It is ludicrous.

[portfire]

I can see your point Asteroid but IMO misleading someone is wrong, yes copper can give a green flame but this was about fireworks, we know the best salt to use. IMO giving people the wrong information can be dangerous.

They say in the vid it's chemistry....but no real explanation