Should Santa be going down the chimney if the fire is lit?

Helen Roe teaches Family and Consumer Science at Greenfield Middle School in Highland County. She attended an OOGEEP workshop where participants went through the Petrochemicals and products curriculum. This curriculum includes materials made from crude oil and testing which fiber is best for swimsuits. Using this as a springboard, Roecreated a unique lesson for her sixth grade class.

Roe said, “My lessons include a unit on fabrics, and with Christmas coming up, I thought it would be fun to be Mrs. Claus and look at fabrics for Santa to wear. The students did a flammability and burn test on six different red fabrics. They learned that some would melt—not the best for Santa going down the chimney. The students used a cheese grater as a way to check the durability of each fabric. Santa wants fabric that will hold up going down a brick or block chimney! We also used water to see how rain would affect the fabric.”

The students enjoyed working with fabrics of various blends, and this lesson helped them understand more about fabric for children’s clothes and their own clothing.

Roe said, “The OOGEEP workshop gave me new life. I was planning on retiring but decided to keep teaching!” Don’t miss your chance to learn and grow through these free educator workshops.