Capturing the Sun’s Energy
Building a Solar Oven
5th grade
Timeframe
5 - 7 class periods (~45 minutes each)
Objectives
Science – forms of energy, changes in temperature, conductors/insulators
Technology – building a solar oven
Engineering – design improvement
Math – measurement
Materials
 Student journals/pencils
 Ice cubes
 Instruction sheet for building solar ovens
 All supplies needed to build solar ovens (see instruction sheet)
 Working solar oven, if available, or pictures of solar ovens
 Thermometers, one per student oven
Engage (outdoor classroom) one class period
Power of the sun’s energy
(note: needs to be done on a sunny day)
 Provide students with some ice cubes in the outdoor classroom.
 Working in small groups, challenge students to find the locations in the outdoor classroom where
their ice cube will melt the most quickly. Encourage them to try different materials – wood, grass,
metal, plastic, rock, etc.
 As a class, share observations and discuss the role insulators and conductors played in the melting
rate.
 Brainstorm ways the sun’s energy in the schoolyard could be used to accomplish an everyday task.
 Show students a real solar oven or pictures of solar ovens. Discuss a solar oven’s use for cooking
food with solar energy.
Explore (indoor and outdoor classroom) one—two class periods
Building solar ovens
(note: ovens can be built indoors, but a sunny day will be needed when setting them outside)
 Provide students with an instruction sheet and all materials needed to make simple solar ovens
using pizza boxes.
 Allow students to set their solar ovens outside, deciding how best to set them up and manipulate
them through the day.
 Simple foods that can be cooked in a solar oven: mini-pizza on an English muffin, hotdogs,
S’mores, etc.
 Students explain their success/challenges with the solar ovens. Brainstorm how their solar oven
may be improved.
Copyright © 2013 REAL School Gardens
Explain (indoor classroom) one class period
 Discuss components of pizza box solar ovens, emphasizing vocabulary words: insulators,
conductors, reflection, radiation, absorption, temperature, transparent, solar, thermal, and light
energy.
 Research different model types for solar ovens. How do they work?
Elaborate (indoor and outdoor classroom) one-two class periods
 Students create a design plan for improving their solar oven to solve problems they discovered
with the original pizza box ovens they built.
 Students build new solar ovens with their design plans or improve upon the solar oven they’ve
already built. (Alternatively, class may decide on one students’ design to use for building).
 Students place new solar ovens outside, comparing results with pizza box solar oven.
 Students write up explanation comparing results of both ovens.
Evaluate (indoor classroom) one class period
 Provide students with a diagram or picture of a real solar oven. Students should explain how the
solar oven works, including use of key vocabulary words.
Copyright © 2013 REAL School Gardens
Page 2
Instructions for Constructing
a Pizza Box Solar Oven
Materials

Small—medium size pizza boxes

Aluminum foil (heavy duty)

Black construction paper

Clear plastic 1-gallon size bags (or clear plastic wrap)

Glue

Masking tape

String

Scissors

Box cutters or sharp knives (for cutting out panel on pizza box)
Steps for constructing a solar oven
1. Use a ruler to mark a line 1-2 inches from the edge of the top of the pizza box on 3 of the 4 sides
(leave the “hinge” side blank).
2. Using scissors or a box cutter, cut along the line to create panel that flips up at the hinge of the box.
3. Lift the panel that has been cut from the top of the box and glue aluminum foil to the underside,
with the shiny side facing out and as smooth as possible.
4. Cover the bottom of the inside of the box with aluminum foil, shiny side up.
5. Cover the foil placed in the bottom of the box with black paper.
6. Tape a piece of clear plastic to the underside of the opening in the top of the box. Attach the plastic
as tightly as possible, making sure all edges are sealed with tape to prevent any air from escaping.
7. Make sure the tabs on the back of the box (along the spine) are pushed inwards and covered with
tape to prevent air from escaping.
8. Tape a piece of string to the top of the panel - best if taped on top of another piece of tape.
9. Attach another piece of tape to the other end of the string.
10. Situate the solar oven so that the panel faces the sun directly, using the string to fix the angle of
the panel to reflect the sun into the box, using the tape to secure the desired angle. Alternatively,
raise the back to angel the entire box towards the sun.
Copyright © 2013 REAL School Gardens
Grade
Concepts
STEM in the Schoolyard
PreKindergarten - 5th grade lessons
Standards and Concepts
Math Common Core Standards
Technology and Engineering
National Science Education Standards
Engineering - design and construction
1st
Properties of soil
Natural resources
Construction
Sorting/classifying
E.D.3 Changes in earth and sky
b. Weather changes from day to day and over the seasons. Weather can be described by
measurable
quantities, such as temperature, wind direction and speed, and precipitation.
E.F.5 Science and technology in local challenges
a. People continue inventing new ways of doing things, solving problems, and getting
work done. New ideas and inventions often affect other people; sometimes the effects
are good and sometimes they are bad. It is helpful to try to determine in advance how
ideas and inventions will affect other people.
E.E.2 Understandings about science and technology
c. Scientists and engineers often work in teams with different individuals doing different
things that contribute to the results. This understanding focuses primarily on teams
working together and secondarily, on the combination of scientist and engineer teams.
Technology - Compound Machines
Engineering - Design, construction, and use
of tools
Lesson
K.MD.A.1 Describe measurable attributes of objects, such as length or weight.
Describe several measurable attributes of a single object.
K.MD.A.2 Directly compare two objects with a measurable attribute in
common, to see which object has “more of”/“less of” the attribute, and
describe the difference. For example, directly compare the heights of two
children and describe one child as taller/shorter.
MD.B.3 Classify objects into given categories; count the numbers of objects in
each category and sort the categories by count.1
2nd
Weather
Weather tools
Data collection and analysis
E.B.2 Position and motion of objects
a. The position of an object can be described by locating it relative to another object or
the background.
b. An object's motion can be described by tracing and measuring its position over time.
c. The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. The size of
the change is
related to the strength of the push or pull.
Technology - Electrical circuits
Engineering - Design & problem solving
Prek/Kinder
E.D.1 Properties of earth materials
a. Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. The
varied materials
have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different
ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we
use as food. Earth materials provide
many of the resources that humans use.
b. Soils have properties of color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to
support the growth of many kinds of plants, including those in our food supply.
Engineering - design and construction
3rd
Mechanical Energy
Force and Motion
Simple Machines
Tool technology
Design/Engineering
E.B.3 Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism
b. Heat can be produced in many ways, such as burning, rubbing, or mixing one substance with another. Heat can move from one object to another by conduction.
c. Electricity in circuits can produce light, heat, sound, and magnetic effects. Electrical
circuits require a
complete loop through which an electrical current can pass.
Technology - Solar Ovens, Conservation of
Natural Resources
Engineering - Design Improvement
Rocks
Physical properties of solids
Construction
Sorting/classifying
1.MD.C.4 Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories;
ask and answer questions about the total number of data points, how many in
each category, and how many more or less are in one category than in
another
Technology - weather tools
4th
Chemical & Electrical Energy,
Circuits
Conductors/Insulators
E.B.3 Light, heat, electricity, and magnetism
b. Heat can be produced in many ways, such as burning, rubbing, or mixing one substance with another. Heat can move from one object to another by conduction.
E.D.2 Objects in the sky
b. The sun provides the light and heat necessary to maintain the temperature of the
earth.
E.D.1 Properties of earth materials
a. Earth materials are solid rocks and soils, water, and the gases of the atmosphere. The
varied materials
have different physical and chemical properties, which make them useful in different
ways, for example, as building materials, as sources of fuel, or for growing the plants we
use as food. Earth materials provide
many of the resources that humans use.
b. Soils have properties of color and texture, capacity to retain water, and ability to
support the growth of many kinds of plants, including those in our food supply.
2.MD.A.1 Measure the length of an object by selecting and using appropriate
tools such as rulers, yardsticks, meter sticks, and measuring tapes.
2.MD.D.9 Generate measurement data by measuring lengths of several
objects to the nearest whole unit, or by making repeated measurements of
the same object. Show the measurements by making a line plot, where the
horizontal scale is marked off in whole-number units.
5th
Solar and Heat Energy Conductors/Insulators
Reflection & transparency
Building
Rock Towers
Making
Bricks from
Clay
Weather
Observations and
Data Collection
Garden
Tools
PotatoPowered
Calculators
Pizza Box
Solar Ovens
Copyright © 2013 REAL School Gardens