Some days of school are extra fun…
Like any day the cafeteria serves your favorite hot lunch...
Or like…any field trip…
Or maybe a snow day, where you didn't have to go to school at all!
Though…we suppose that last one doesn't really count.
But you know what our personal favorite is?
Any day we get to dig into to our very own homemade s'mores!
That's pretty much the next best thing to a snow day, right?
And if you're watching this video, you're in luck…today, you'll be building your very
own solar oven!
…or maybe you just randomly clicked on this video, and you won't be getting any s'mores.
Man.
That'd be a bummer.
But if you are going to be building a solar oven and chowing on s'mores, then let's get
started!
Oh, and before you start thinking, "Sweet!
A Shmoop video with zero educational purpose," Well…
…sorry."
There's definitely a lesson today, but there's also s'mores, so…c'mon.
This is a sweet deal.
Pun intended.
Anyway, the lesson today is all about solar power.
Solar power is a popular form of alternative energy used all over the world, and it uses
both the sun's light and heat to create energy.
If you've ever seen a solar panel before, you've seen solar power in action.
But if you haven't ever seen a solar panel, don't fret, because through the magic of video…
Boom.
There's a solar panel.
The solar ovens you'll build today will be another shining example of the power of solar
energy.
And…y'know.
S'mores.
So get excited!
First things first, open up that pizza box.
If there's any pizza left, eat it.
Or save it for later.
But do not, under any circumstances, throw the pizza out.
There is nothing worse in this world than wasted pizza.
Once you've done that, close the box back up, take a ruler and measure one inch from
each side of your pizza box.
Then use those points to create the outline of a square, like so.
Now, using scissors or the utility knife, carefully cut three of the four sides of your
square – but not the side closest to the hinge of the box.
The hinge is where the pizza box flips up, and if you cut this side, well, the whole
thing won't work, and that means no s'mores.
You've been warned.
Oh, and speaking of warnings – be super careful with your knife or scissors.
A trip to the hospital would also put a damper on the whole s'mores thing.
Once you've cut the three sides, you'll want to fold the flap back just a bit on the side
that you didn't cut.
This is our lid.
Enter our aluminum foil – or as they say in England, "al-you-minny-um."
You don't need to know that, but we just like saying it.
"Al you minny um, al you minny um."
Heh.
You're going to want to line the inside of the cardboard flaps with the foil, making
sure to fold the edges of it over the top of the flap before gluing it all into place,
so that the inside of our opening is totally metallic.
This is going to reflect heat from the sun down into our oven.
Oh, and try to keep the foil as flat as possible.
The more crinkles and cracks you have, the s'less s'more cooking will go on.
Okay, now take a look at that gap created by the flap in the box, right by the lid there.
You'll want to cover that up with plastic wrap and black electric tape.
We don't want any holes or gaps in this thing when we close it up, so don't be shy with
your use of tape here.
This is kinda like how a car gets super hot when it's out in the sun with the windows
rolled up.
The sunlight goes through the windows and heats the air up, and then the hot air can't
get out since the windows are sealed shut.
Now back to the foil.
Just like we did to our lid, we'll want to do to the inside of our box.
So whip out your aluminum foil and glue and get to work, covering up every square inch
of the inside with the shiny stuff.
Ooh….shiny.
When we close our box, we want the entire inside to be lined up and down with foil,
like so.
Once you've glued foil all up in that box, we need to take our black piece of construction
paper and glue it to the bottom of the inside of the box.
This is where the actual cooking is going to take place – so we'll call it a heat sink.
Now all that's left to do is tape our pencil, or skewer, into place like so, just in the
right position that it props up the top of our box about 90 degrees.
Once you've done that, your solar oven is all done and ready for cooking.
So ask your teacher for the cabbage and beets and we'll have a nice vegetable roast going
on in no time at all!
…Heh.
Just kidding.
Bring on the s'mores!!!!
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