STEM/Science in Action: Solar Ovens

S'mores anyone?

Who doesn't love Science when food takes centre stage?

Keynote GIF of popcorn maker to demonstrate heat energy changes the kernels into popcorn

Last term, our Year/Grade 3 and 4 students have been exploring energy in Science and Technology, with a focus on the heat and light energy - their characterisitics and effects on the world around us. Think conduction, convection and radiation, penguins and popcorn!

A scenario was created for our students (a beach excursion, a rogue wave damaging supplies) and they were posed with a challenge:

You will need to be an engineer and come up with a way to

• Build a solar oven with a variety of materials (such as cardboard, newspaper and aluminum foil)

To be successful as a system, solar ovens need to demonstrate 4 criteria elements:

1. The concentration of sunlight – a reflective surface that directs sunlight into the centre of the solar oven
2. The absorption of sunlight – a colour material to absorb light to make heat inside the oven
3. The conduction of heat – a material that can transfer heat to the food
4. The retention of heat – a way to trap the heat energy inside the solar oven. (Can you trap the sun's heat to cook something delicious?)

Remember, with a bit of teamwork, your knowledge of science, and the power of the Byron Bay sun, you can whip up a delicious (and maybe even educational!) snack while waiting for your rescue. Maybe you'll even invent the ultimate surfer's solar snack!

To begin with, students practised their skill in taking notes and adding photos using Freeform. Some of our students were new to the platform so it was a great opportunity to review ALL the features! Thanks to @JacobW (Woolcock) for his comprehensive overview. overview

Here they included our scientific investigations, data and their observations:

• determining what colours absorbs heat and light energy effectively
• a little chemistry about changing states in melting ice,
• uncovering what materials work as suitable insulators and conductors,
• food colouring in hot, warm and cold water to demonstrate molecules in action...

The Engineering/Building Process

Students constructing their solar oven

Students constructing their solar oven

Students used the camera app to document the stages of the engineering/building of their prototype through videos and photos. Even some of my former students (who have moved onto high school) were on work experience and supported our students.

Students documenting the construction their solar oven using iPad

Testing

The most important element was cooking their s'mores, monitoring the temperature, evaluating how effective their solar oven was 'cooking'.

Testing the solar ovens - monitoring the temperature

Testing the solar ovens - monitoring the temperature

Using the photos from their construction process, students created Keynote pop art of their solar oven, then a gif to add some humour to the process!

Student's solar oven gif

Have you tried something like this in your class? What has worked for you? If so, please share in the comments below.

Student pleased with solar oven success in making a s'more with a thumbs up