How to Make a Solar Oven With Your Kids ⋆ Rootopia

How to Make a Solar Oven With Your Kids

Michelle
October 8, 2016
0
Activities Table

Challenge your kids to build a solar oven that will absorb, trap and reflect heat. The reward? Sweet treats, and a whole lot of science know-how.

I was looking for summer activities to do with the kids and came across lots of ideas on building a solar oven like this one from NASA Climate Kids. It seemed like a great activity that and has a sweet reward at the end — eating s’mores.

Students will design a solar oven based on what they know about the role of heat from sunlight
Students will predict what will happen then collect time, temperature and observational data
Students will compare results from different designs and food items
Students can explore growing societal energy demands and the role of the sun to meet that demand

MATERIALS LIST

Cardboard box (pizza or shoe box)
Box cutters or scissors
Plastic wrap – or clear plastic bag
Tape
Aluminum Foil
Black paper
Marshmallows, chocolate & graham crackers
Food items to melt: cheese, gummy bears etc.
Stick or pencil to prop open oven lid
Thermometer
Clock
Paper, pencil, computer or way to enter data

Step #1: Core idea: Heat from sunlight can be trapped.

Design challenge: How will you let the heat from sunlight into your solar oven and keep it in your oven?

Hint: Make a window! Just like a greenhouse, or the inside of a closed up car on a hot day.

Using box cutters or scissors, cut a three sided “window” or flap on the widest part of the cardboard box
Using plastic wrap and tape, cover the opening to create a window.

Dig Deeper: Is there anything else you can do to let in light and trap it in? What happens if you make more than one window?

Step #2: Core idea: Since light is energy, the more light the solar oven absorbs, the more heat there will be. Since black absorbs all the wavelengths of light, it absorbs the most heat.