Fire Safety: Then and NowActivities & Teaching Strategies
Active learning helps Year 2 students grasp the dramatic differences between fire safety in 1666 and today by engaging their senses and movement. Handling materials, acting out scenarios, and comparing objects makes abstract historical and scientific concepts concrete and memorable.
Learning Objectives
- 1Compare the causes and spread of the Great Fire of London with modern fire safety measures.
- 2Explain how building materials and design in 1666 contributed to the rapid spread of fire.
- 3Identify key fire safety rules and equipment used in homes today.
- 4Describe the actions individuals should take in the event of a house fire.
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Timeline Activity: Then and Now Fire Safety
Provide cards with 1666 facts and modern equivalents. In small groups, students sequence them on a split timeline poster, drawing simple illustrations for each. Groups present one key change to the class.
Prepare & details
What fire safety rules do we have today to keep us safe at home?
Facilitation Tip: During the Timeline Activity, give pairs a limited set of cards so they must discuss and decide order rather than racing through the task.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Role-Play: Fire Escape Drills
Divide the class into pairs to act out 1666 bucket chains versus modern stop-drop-roll and call 999 routines. Switch roles after practising each. Debrief on why methods improved.
Prepare & details
How were buildings in 1666 different from buildings today, and why did that make fires more dangerous?
Facilitation Tip: When running Fire Escape Drills, position yourself where you can observe every group’s start and finish times without leading their decisions.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Model Building: House Fire Spread
Pairs use craft sticks for 1666-style houses and blocks for modern ones. Simulate fire with red tissue and observe spread differences. Record findings on worksheets.
Prepare & details
What would you do if there was a fire in your home?
Facilitation Tip: Ask Model Building groups to predict where fire will spread before they light their strings, so they compare expectation to outcome.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Sorting Game: Safety Rules Match
Whole class sorts picture cards of old and new safety items into 'Then' and 'Now' hoops. Discuss matches and invent one new rule as a group.
Prepare & details
What fire safety rules do we have today to keep us safe at home?
Facilitation Tip: For the Sorting Game, have students work in threes so they must justify each placement aloud, building language and reasoning.
Setup: Standard classroom seating; students turn to a neighbor
Materials: Discussion prompt (projected or printed), Optional: recording sheet for pairs
Teaching This Topic
Teachers should use clear contrasts, repeating key vocabulary like ‘timber,’ ‘brick,’ ‘detector,’ and ‘hose’ across activities so students internalise differences. Avoid long explanations; instead, let evidence emerge through their actions and talk. Research shows that when students physically build models or act out procedures, misconceptions surface naturally and can be corrected in the moment.
What to Expect
Students will explain how materials and design changed fire spread and safety practices by the end of the sequence. They will also demonstrate safe actions through role-play and model tests, showing they can apply key contrasts to real-world situations.
These activities are a starting point. A full mission is the experience.
- Complete facilitation script with teacher dialogue
- Printable student materials, ready for class
- Differentiation strategies for every learner
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Common MisconceptionDuring Timeline Activity: Then and Now Fire Safety, watch for students placing modern safety features like smoke detectors in 1666.
What to Teach Instead
Use the timeline cards to prompt students to date each item aloud; if they hesitate, ask which century matches the picture and why, guiding them back to the correct placement.
Common MisconceptionDuring Role-Play: Fire Escape Drills, watch for students assuming firefighters in 1666 used engines and hoses like today.
What to Teach Instead
Before the drill, show pictures of buckets and hooks and ask students to act out the historical method, then repeat using modern tools so they feel the difference physically.
Common MisconceptionDuring Model Building: House Fire Spread, watch for students modelling fire spread as isolated to one house rather than across the street.
What to Teach Instead
Give each group a street grid on paper and ask them to mark where fire could jump to the next house based on wind and materials, then test their predictions with the model.
Assessment Ideas
After Timeline Activity: Then and Now Fire Safety, give each student two images (1666 street and modern street) and ask them to write one sentence comparing fire danger and one sentence naming a modern safety feature.
During Sorting Game: Safety Rules Match, ask each trio to share one rule they placed in ‘Prevents Fire’ and explain why it belongs there, listening for understanding of modern prevention and response.
After Model Building: House Fire Spread, show pictures of smoke detector, fire extinguisher, thatched roof, and open fire. Ask students to sort them into ‘Helps Prevent Fire’ and ‘Made Fires Worse in 1666’ categories on mini whiteboards, then hold up answers for a quick visual check.
Extensions & Scaffolding
- Challenge: Ask students to design a modern fire-safe house using only the materials provided, explaining each choice to a partner.
- Scaffolding: Provide sentence stems for students who struggle to articulate differences, such as “In 1666, ______ spread fire because ______. Today, ______ stops fire because ______.”
- Deeper exploration: Invite students to research a modern firefighting tool (e.g., thermal imaging cameras) and present its purpose to the class.
Key Vocabulary
| Thatch | A roofing material made of straw or reeds, which burns very easily and was common in 1666. |
| Smoke detector | A device that sounds an alarm when it senses smoke, warning people of a potential fire. |
| Fire engine | A specialized vehicle used by firefighters to transport equipment and water to a fire scene. |
| Fire escape plan | A pre-arranged route and set of actions for safely leaving a building during a fire. |
Suggested Methodologies
Planning templates for History
5E Model
The 5E Model structures lessons through five phases (Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate, and Evaluate), guiding students from curiosity to deep understanding through inquiry-based learning.
Unit PlannerThematic Unit
Organize a multi-week unit around a central theme or essential question that cuts across topics, texts, and disciplines, helping students see connections and build deeper understanding.
RubricSingle-Point Rubric
Build a single-point rubric that defines only the "meets standard" level, leaving space for teachers to document what exceeded and what fell short. Simple to create, easy for students to understand.
More in The Great Fire of London
London in 1666: A City of Wood
Investigating the urban landscape of London before the fire, focusing on building materials and density.
3 methodologies
Pudding Lane: The Spark and Spread
Investigating the origins of the fire in Thomas Farriner's bakery and the initial factors that caused it to spread.
3 methodologies
Samuel Pepys: A Witness's Diary
Using primary sources from Samuel Pepys' diary to understand the personal experience of living through the fire.
3 methodologies
Fighting the Flames: 17th Century Methods
Exploring the primitive methods used to stop the fire, from leather buckets to fire hooks and gunpowder.
3 methodologies
The Aftermath: A City in Ruins
Examining the immediate consequences of the fire, including homelessness and the destruction of landmarks.
3 methodologies
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