Alan Alda's "Flame Challenge": Explaining Fire to 11 Year Olds

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around Alan Alda's "Flame Challenge," a competition aimed at explaining the concept of fire to eleven-year-olds. Participants share their thoughts on the submissions, the effectiveness of various explanations, and the overall goal of making the topic accessible and engaging for a younger audience.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants express interest in the challenge and its premise, noting the importance of explaining fire in a way that resonates with eleven-year-olds.
  • One participant mentions a specific entry (#794) that they found effective, highlighting its engaging elements, although they noted a strange introduction involving a character chained to a wall.
  • Another participant suggests that some entries may have underestimated the comprehension abilities of eleven-year-olds, advocating for explanations that are interesting without being overly simplistic.
  • A humorous comment references "phlogiston," indicating a playful approach to the topic, though it does not contribute to the main discussion.
  • Several participants reflect on the balance between complexity and accessibility in the explanations provided in the competition.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the importance of making explanations engaging and appropriate for eleven-year-olds, but there is no consensus on the effectiveness of specific entries or the overall approach taken by the submissions.

Contextual Notes

Some participants express concerns about the complexity of explanations and the need to avoid oversimplification, indicating a nuanced view of what constitutes an appropriate explanation for the target age group.

AnTiFreeze3
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I thought that this was an interesting idea. Basically, Alan Alda started a competition of some sorts for people to explain what fire is to eleven year olds.

The basis for starting this is that, when he was eleven, he was interested in fire, asked his science teacher what it was, and all that she said was, "it's oxidation." Clearly, to an eleven year old, that isn't going to take him very far.

Lots of people submitted to it, and as of now it's down to the top six finalists (they were all judged by a panel of 6,000 eleven year olds...)

Here's the link to the website if you guys want to check it out: http://www.flamechallenge.org/

Some of the videos are interesting to watch, and one guy even implemented a song into the end of it.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I also just finished watching the Colbert Report. Haven't had a chance to check out the site yet, but I thought that Stephen's explanation was... interesting. :biggrin:
 
The devil's tears are burning strong tonight...
 
AnTiFreeze3 said:
The devil's tears are burning strong tonight...

And just when I got over needing a night-light...
 
My favorite is #794, followed by #765.

I thought the start of #794 was kind of strange, with the guy chained to the wall (they never did explain that part), but it did give the best explanation for an 11-year-old and the song was great!

I think some of the entries underestimated what an 11-year-old could understand.
 
*sings*
Cheeemiiluminescence!
 
What? No mention of Phlogiston? ?

I'm kidding! But really, I try to bring "phlogiston" into the discussion every chance I get, particularly in professional settings.
 
BobG said:
... I think some of the entries underestimated what an 11-year-old could understand.

My thoughts as well. They definitely don't need to make it extremely complex, but I think the biggest part of the competition was making something that 11 year olds would actually find interesting, and wasn't too over their heads. Just dumbing down the concept doesn't help them at all.
 

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