By Becki White
The human brain uses a complicated process to storeinformation。基本上，它会为数据组创建途径。与穿过树林的道路一样，高流量的人比几乎没有使用的人更容易出行。当您向孩子们教导消防安全概念时，您通常会磕磕绊绊，而不是使用精神清除和铺设的路径。
此外,依赖你的成人的理解of the world may not be useful in teaching fire safety to kids; they don’t have much knowledge or experience, and they haven’t stored mental images of the things you say they should “watch out for.” Your信息may not get filed away correctly in their brains, and that makes it less likely to be accessible when it’s needed. If we find a connection to a path they’ve traveled frequently, it will be more accessible. Use of storytelling and creative imagery helps kids process unfamiliar information and store it in an accessible place.
对于这篇文章，我将谈论三条消息，我经常用来向年轻人提供消防安全消息：“降低和去”（或在烟雾下爬行），“知道你的地址911,” and “Stop, drop, and roll” (SDR). To convey each of these messages, I use stories that I’ve created to help kids attach them to pathways that are frequently traveled in their brains.
Get Low and Go
讲述儿童明确途径的最成功的例子之一就是向他们解释为“降低并”烟雾。作为消防员，我们已经看到了smokebank down, creating a thick layer above us. Many adults and almost all children are unable to picture this in their minds. So, we need to find an equivalent image that’s already located along one of their well-used paths.
课程：我问他们看到火和烟雾的地方。它们给出像篝火等的例子fireplaces。I ask them what happens to the smoke in those fires. They explain that it goes up, sometimes expanding the image to “it goes up and away.”
Given that perspective, think about the message we’re sending them, which would be:Crawllow under smoke that they think goes up and away.I explain to kids that smoke and fire acts sort of like a bathtub. (There are very few people who have no familiarity with a bathtub.) I have the kids picture a bathtub in their minds. Mom or dad pulls the lever and the water flows out of the faucet (photo 1). The water comes down in a stream and fills the bottom of the bathtub all the way. Then, the water gets deeper in the tub. (I use my hands to accentuate the story.) I explain that fire and smoke works the same way, but upside down. The smoke goes up, spreads all the way around the room, and then gets deeper. That’s why we have smoke alarms on the ceiling or high on the walls. And since the smoke is above us, we crawl low under it to get out. The kids can picture this, and they will likely think about it when they see their bathtubs. This story, and the fire safety information it conveys, will attach itself to a brain pathway that is traveled frequently.
(1) Tying smoke behavior to water filling a tub or sink helps explain smoke alarm placement and the concept of crawling low under smoke.
知道你的地址
An important lesson relayed by fire and police departments is how to call 911. With cell phones in use by people of all ages, ensuring that every child knows a home address is more essential than it was when landlines provided callers’locations。我多年教学的小学，教学地址总是一个斗争。即使对于我的第三年和四年级学生，也是一件困难的事情。所以，我用了他们非常熟悉的东西：第一和姓氏。
课程：我问孩子们有多少名名字和姓氏;我解释说他们的房屋也有一个名字和姓氏。我们使用姓名的字母，但我们的房屋为他们的名字使用数字。由于我们很难记住数字的名字，我们的房屋佩戴nametags（图1）所以我们可以学习他们的名字（屋数字）。我让孩子们回家，向他们的房子打个招呼;糟糕的事情一直坐在那里穿着它的“nametag”只是等待有人对此打招呼。而且，我提醒他们使用房子的名字（房屋数字）;不要只是说，“嗨，房子！”经过几天的孩子们按号码迎接他们的房子，他们开始记住数字序列。
我解释的最后一个名字，就像我们的姓氏一样。家庭中的大多数人分享姓氏，就像同一个街道上的房子一样。如果我住在枫树街上，我的房子的姓是枫树街。隔壁的邻居的房子也是枫树街。因此，您的房子的名字是1234枫街（图1）。
图1。一个伟大的方式来教导孩子们如何去记住their address is to associate it with learning someone’s name.
Most of the kids know their street name, so learning their address is a faster method. And again, the first-and-last name pathway is well-worn by the time a child is in early grade school; I’ve just added new information in a place where it will remain accessible. There’s a bonus to this teaching method, too—in anemergency, it helps kids identify addresses on buildings other than “home.”
Stop, Drop, and Roll
SDR is a concept taught on nearly every fire department visit. However, children have no pathways in their brains for the concept of “clothes着火。”他们甚至无法想象它。（为什么他们会想要的孩子们在思考他们的衣服可能开始着火？）如果SDR是一个重要的信息，我们需要找到有些孩子熟悉的东西，并将这个想法与之相关。只有在我发表侦察团体（即篝火安全）或覆盖万圣节安全（如南瓜和流动的服装）时，我才能提供SDR消息。SDR与这些受众特别相关。
Start by painting a visual image in the kids’ minds such as, “We’re sitting by a campfire”—something they have done or seen images of so they can start a mental pathway. Continue with, “Sometimes, embers or little sparks fly out of the campfire. How many of you have seen that?” Many of them will raise their hands. (As you read this, you’re probably picturing that fire, too.) Then explain that sometimes those embers can land on people’s clothes and cause them to start on fire (photo 2). Now, you’re ready to deliver the message you want them to remember: If this happens, staycalm。“停止跑去，落到地上，然后来回滚动火灾。”解释一种在地面上滚动的目的是将氧气从火中取出;这就是为什么我们停止跑步，为什么我们慢慢滚动。为它们提供所有信息，以便SDR通常与“Fire”一起存储。我经常发现当你问孩子们应该做的话，如果有火，他们的直接反应是大喊大叫，“停止，下降和滚动！”这是存储不正确的信息的完美示例。在他们的头上，消防等于SDR，这不是你想要他们的想法。
（2）停止，掉落和滚动通常与“火”相关联。将概念与篝火或点燃蜡烛绑在余烬中将有助于澄清课程。
考虑您认为足以包含在您的消息的重要信息介绍, and make sure you are really reaching your audience. Use those pathways that are prerouted; find something familiar to your audience and draw a parallel image. The information you attach will be revisited when they travel that roadway for other reasons—like taking a bath or sitting by the campfire—and your lesson will not only survive the complicated storage process, but it’ll be ready for access when it’s needed to prevent injury or to facilitate escape from a fire.
照片提供www.photos.com.。Figure by author.
Becki Whiteis a Minnesota deputy state fire marshal and a captain in the Eden Prairie (MN)Fire Department。She has a master’s degree in teaching and learning and was an elementary teacher for 12 years. White has combined her passion for education with her knowledge and experience in thefire serviceto become a resource for fire and life安全教育工作者。白色也是北方妇女的副总统FirefighterAssociation, a nonprofit organization that assists with mentoring, networking, and训练women in thefire service。
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