Teaching students how to use a Bunsen burner can be stressful. I didn’t get to teach this until my third year of teaching when I finally got a lab classroom. I was a bit out of practice when the time came to teach my students to use the Bunsen burner. When I went to plan my lesson, I asked my husband for pointers since he had the same level of experience as my students.
Teaching the Parts of the Bunsen Burner
We begin with teaching the parts of the Bunsen burner. I give the students a presentation that illustrates the parts and function of each individual part of the burner. I’ve also printed this presentation and used it as a Gallery walk. By using the gallery walk, students move around the room and fill in information on a notes sheet, which is much more hands off for me, and more hands on for them. Just the way I like it. Plus it helps to shake things up and get us out of the lecture routine.
You can get this free parts of the Bunsen burner quiz by signing up with your email address. I’ll send it to you! This is a great way to test your students on their Bunsen burner knowledge.
Demonstration
After the students have their notes, I give them a demo of the Bunsen burner. I make sure to talk about all of the safety concerns. Things like: long hair, loose clothing, running the gas too long, and snuffing out the flame with the striker. I spoke a lot about lab safety in this podcast episode.
Babysitting the Bunsen Burner
Then I have my students, one-by-one, come to me to do a Bunsen burner lighting with my supervision. This is a pretty hectic day in the lab, I’m not going to lie to you. If you want more specific details on this level of Bunsen burner training, you can read this blog post. Essentially, I have 20-something students in class, usually working on a worksheet to get some practice and stay away from my Bunsen burner coaching. I usually assign a significant figures activity.
While teaching students to use the Bunsen burner, I have them do a dry run of everything without the gas running. This gives them a good idea of how hard to squeeze the flint striker and where exactly they should put it. Once they feel comfortable on the dry run, I turn on the gas. The student will light the burner in front of me. I instruct them on adjusting the shape of the flame and the oxygen flow. The student make observations and records in their lab book.
Why I choose Individual Bunsen Burner Training
There are a few reasons why I insist on individual Bunsen burner training for my students. First off is confidence. Most of my students have never lit a Bunsen burner before. When they get to my classroom, they are usually pretty intimidated. Giving them an appropriate space to get out all of their mistakes before sending them out “on their own” really gives them the confidence boost they need. Most often, accidents happen because students aren’t confident enough and doubt themselves. They can’t commit to a procedure and get caught in the “what do I do” thought and are frozen.
I also believe that the individual training gives me a space to make sure that every student is going to be able to use a Bunsen burner safely. I correct kids and their individual mistakes before sending them off. I could also ensure that every kid actually received the safety training. There was no doubt over whether a kid was truly paying attention to my whole group safety lecture.
Individually teaching students to use the Bunsen burner also allows me to sift out the kids that I need to keep a close eye on. The ones that lack skill or confidence usually need this kind of attention. There are some kids that will be near professionals. This doesn’t mean ignore them of course, but you probably can give them a quick glance instead of a locked eyes intense stare down.
Bunsen Burner Lab Activity
Once I’m done teaching how to use the Bunsen burner, and they do their demo, the kids do a lab investigation with the Bunsen burner. They look for the hottest part of the flame. They even look for the shape and color upon changing the oxygen flow. It’s a really quick lab to do, which I appreciate since the training they get is pretty time consuming. Looking for a lab rubric for high school science? Sign up here and I’ll send you mine.
