Solar Oven (English)
30-60 min
Ages 5+
What Will You Make?
We will create a solar oven. to explore the concepts of heat and temperature along with their three mechanisms of heat transfer: Conduction, Convection, and Radiation.
What Will You Learn?
Heat is a form of energy that is transferred from one body to another, while temperature is a property that indicates the amount of heat in an object and is generally measured in degrees Celsius or Centigrade. The way in which heat is transferred is always from a body of higher temperature to one of lower temperature, until a thermal equilibrium is reached; if they stay in touch long enough. There are three mechanisms for heat transfer to take place: Conduction, Convection, Radiation.
Grab your materials...let's get started!
Prep the box
Step 1
We start by taking our box, the lid acts as a reflector to direct light into our oven, so we cut the extra flaps off the box.
Add tin foil
Step 2
Now we will take the aluminum foil, line the inside of the box and the lid flap. We use the clear tape to keep it in place.
Prep your food
Step 3
We put several cookies on our plate and put a marshmallow on half of the cookies and chocolate on the other half.
Place food in your oven
Step 4
We placed the plate in the box and glued a sheet of plastic wrap over the top.
Let's get cooking!
Step 5
Let’s take our oven out into the sun and position it so that the sun shines directly into it. If your lid is having trouble staying open, use a straw and some tape to hold the lid open.
Cool! The cooking time will depend on the temperature and the amount of sunlight that the oven receives, be patient and check your sandwiches frequently and you will notice that each time they melt a little more.
Let's Eat!
Step 6
Once the marshmallows are soft to the touch, carefully scoop out the ingredients and create the cookie by bringing the chocolate and marshmallows together. Be careful because they can be hot! Enjoy your sandwiches baked in your own solar oven!
Finished Samples
Resources
Media
What's Happenning Here?
Conduction, Convection, and Radiation
Our solar ovens work using sunlight as energy creating a transfer of heat by radiation and this is accumulated thanks to the aluminum surface of the oven and our plastic cover which increases the temperature.
As a result, you can harness the power of the sun to help you heat up your treats!
What Is Next?
Try these projects
Both of these projects, featured in Make, also focus on solar or cooking. They are easy and fun for exploring DIY cooking further.
About MoonMakers
MoonMakers — led by Camila and Diego Luna — are a community of creators passionate about knowledge. A Makerspace, an open space with different digital manufacturing machines. And a YouTube channel where we promote science, technology and the maker movement.
MoonMakers have collaborated with companies such as: Sesame Street, Make Community and in Mexico with Educational Television and Fundación Televisa, creating educational content.
We have given workshops throughout the Mexican Republic with: Talent Land, Secretary of Education in Jalisco, Conacyt, Centro Cultural España.
Materials:
- Shoe box
- Foil
- plastic wrap
- Scotch tape
- Disposable aluminum tray
- thin cookies (like graham crackers)
- marshmallows
- Chocolate
