Lesson 6:
Ben Franklin, The Good Citizen—Benjamin Franklin's Contributions to Philadelphia
Handout 2
Calling All Volunteers, Our City Needs Your Help!The Bucket Brigade
Scenario 1: Use an empty bucket to represent a fire. Place this empty bucket twenty-five foot from a “well”, a full pail of water. Prepare a command card for each student in the class. See Bucket Brigade cards. Students are to only do what their card tells them to do. The object of the game is to have only a few students actually take water to the bucket! The rest of the students have other things that are more important to do than to volunteer to put out the fire. Begin activity. How long does it take to put out the fire? Discuss the problems that arise when only a few people pitch in to help the common good.
Make index cards for students to use in the first scenario.
Call out, “Fire, Fire, Fire!” (Copy: 1 card)
Respond to person yelling, “Fire, Fire, Fire.” “I am too busy!” (Copy: 4-5 cards)
Yell out, “Hurry get a bucket and help me!” (Copy: 1 card)
Respond, “I’ll help!” (Copy: 4-5 cards)
Just stand and watch, pretend not to notice the commotion. (Copy: cards for remaining students)
Scenario 2: All students are going to volunteer their time and talent to help put out the fire. Students divide into two groups with the same set-up as before having a well on one end and a fire on the other for both groups. The structure on fire will burn down in three minutes. In order to fill the need of putting out the fire, students must fill the “fire pail” before the three minutes are up. Students are to solve the dilemma at hand. This activity will reinforce some cooperative behavior among students, and the idea that it takes more than a notion to be a volunteer. It takes action.