Simple home experiment to discover the joy of cooking on a solar oven
Are you wondering how you might make better use of or recycle those cardboard boxes? Utilize the sun's energy to prepare a delectable treat. Science is all around us. One of the wonders of science is using the power of solar energy in our daily lives. To help explain it to kids, we have got an experiment that will make learning this concept fun and easy for them.
The experiment
Introduce your kids to the fascinating world of solar energy with this simple experiment.
What you’ll need
- Cardboard pizza box
- Knife or scissors
- Aluminum foil
- Clear tape
- Plastic wrap (a freezer zip lock bag will also work)
- Black construction paper
- Newspapers
- Ruler or wooden spoon
- Thermometer
- Tortilla wrap
- Cheese
How-to
There are two parts to this experiment. The first part involves making a solar oven while the second part allows kids to cook any dish of their choice (we are are doing a tortilla wrap here!) using the solar oven. Simply put these on a table, call your child, and start the experiment. Here’s a step-by-step guide.
- Clean the pizza box thoroughly and using a pencil and a ruler, draw a one inch square from the edges of the top of the box
- Cut out three of the square's four sides with a knife. To make a flap that stands up, make a crease along the uncut side of the square
- Wrap the foil tightly and secure with tape and line the bottom of the pizza box with black construction paper as black absorbs heat
- Cut two pieces of plastic wrap to the same size as the pizza box's top. Apply tape to the inside edges of the square window you cut into the box to fix the plastic wrap. To pack the walls of the box, roll up some newspaper pages into tubes. Check to see whether you can still close the pizza box's lid
- Once the solar oven is in place, you can start assembling the tortilla wrap in a bowl or plate and spread cheese over it. Fold the other half of the tortilla wrap on itself and place it on the solar oven.
The time between 11 am and 2 pm is best to use your solar oven as the sun’s rays are best at this time. Make sure the wrap (or any meal for that matter!) is on a plate so the inside of your oven doesn't get messed up
How did the solar oven help in cooking?
The light rays strike the earth at a specific angle. The rays got reflected by the foil and bounced right into the box's entrance. After passing through the plastic wrap, it heats up the trapped air inside. The black paper absorbed the heat at the bottom of the solar oven, and the newspaper ensured that the heat does not escape through the vents. The sun's heat got trapped inside the pizza box solar oven, causing it to become extremely hot. The oven got heated up enough to cook wrap!