Solar Oven Challenge
Cooking date: __May 2nd, 2011______
Background Information
Build a solar oven that really cooks! We don’t call it a solar oven for nothing. The purpose of a solar oven is to heat things up – cooking food and purifying water are two main uses. They are used every day all over the world, especially in developing countries. Solar ovens typically use aluminum foil to gather sunlight.
The foil-covered panels of the oven reflect sunlight into the cooking chamber, which is painted black. Heat is produced when the concentrated sunlight is absorbed by the black surface of the cooking chamber. This oven gets hot! At 100 degrees C you can warm up food and at 175 degrees C you can cook. The solar oven design challenge is your chance to build one hot oven. Don’t forget to create a recipe for something yummy to cook.
You will be competing to construct your own solar oven that can be used along with a recipe to make food!
Individually or with a partner, students will construct a solar oven. Teams should come up with a team name. A rubric is provided for assessment and evaluation of the solar oven along with some follow up questions. You are responsible for completing the solar oven, follow up questions, test day sheet and recipe. Construction of the ovens will occur at home. Testing of the ovens and recipe will follow the completion of the oven and will occur in class. You should try your oven BEFORE the test day to see if it works! A recipe must be provided for the food challenge. Please visit http://www.re-energy.ca/recipes.shtml for any ideas.
Evaluation:
Solar Oven Rubric . / 32
Follow Up questions / 18
Test Day Sheet / 10
Recipe (see below) / 8
Total: / 68
Recipe Rubric / /8Recipe day sheet / /4
Food handled safely (reach cooking temperature) / /2
Food cooked or baked to completion / /2
Let’s Get Cooking!
Student Handout
THE CHALLENGE:
ü Either individually or with a partner, you will be designing and constructing a solar oven.
ü Background information and construction plans are available to use and can be found at http://www.re-energy.ca/solar-oven-challenge .
ü Read over the rubric as a team to understand how your oven will be evaluated by your teacher.
ü Teams should come up with a team name – there are bonus points for the best name!
ü Before building can begin, your team must create a rough drawing of your solar oven (top and side views).
ü You will be constructing your oven at home/ in class.
ü SOLAR OVEN TEST DAY IS _____May 5, 2011______.
.
TEST DAY:
ü We will choose a day with sunshine!
ü You will receive a handout called Solar Oven Design Challenge – Test Day to complete. This includes data collection and follow up questions.
ü On test day, you will set up your solar ovens in a location outside of the school with the rest of your classmates and monitor the temperature at 5 minutes intervals for 20 minutes.
A completed solar oven!
GET COOKING!
Student Materials
Solar Oven Design Challenge – Test Day!
Team Name: ______
What To Do
· Record your observations and the temperature indicated on the oven thermometer. Make sure you place the thermometer inside the plastic oven bag before the foil pan gets put into the small box.
· While you are waiting to record your temperature data, continue to answer the questions listed below the data and observation chart.
Data and Observations Chart
· Record your observations for each temperature interval. The teacher will provide you with the control temperature (the temperature of your surroundings).
Control Temperature: ______
Time (minutes) / 0 / 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25 / 30Temperature (°C)
Observations:
Follow Up Questions
Use the solar oven and the background information provided to determine the answers to the following questions.
1. Describe the purpose of the solar oven.
2. List the specific materials needed to make your solar oven.
3. List the steps involved in making your solar oven.
4. How does the design of the solar oven allow the sun’s visible light energy to be collected?
5. How does the design of the solar oven allow collected heat energy to be insulated?
6. What angle or position is the most effective for generating heat in this solar oven?
7. What aspects of this design would you change to make an oven that cooked faster or hotter?
8. Besides preparing food, how might a solar oven like this one be used around the home?
9. What are the limitations of a solar oven? Describe some ways to overcome these limitations.
Student Materials
Solar Oven Design Challenge – Recipe Day!
Team Name: ______
Students Names:______
______
______
What To Do
· Find a recipe or make your own up.
· Collect materials.
· Bake it
· Draw what your group cooked or take a digital picture.
· Write a few sentences about what your group did.
· Hand in to your teacher.
Please describe what your group cooked below.
Sketch a picture of your solar oven and the item cooked below.
Construction / Great care was taken in construction process. / Construction was careful for the most part. / Construction shows some thought to the intended design. / Construction appears careless or haphazard.
Function / Oven functions extraordinarily well reaching the highest temperatures. / Oven functions pretty well reaching very high temperatures. / Oven functions by raising the temperature slightly above the surroundings. / Oven does not raise temperature above the surrounding temperature.
Innovation / Design and materials were selected and used creatively. / Design and materials were selected and there was an attempt at creativity. / Appropriate design and materials were selected. / Design and materials were selected that contributed to a poor product.
Group Participation / Participation by all group members is evident. / Participation by some group members is evident. / Participation by half of group members. / One group member did most of the work.
Understanding Concepts / Shows understanding of all of the basic concepts
regarding heat transfer. / Shows understanding of most of the basic concepts regarding heat transfer. / Shows understanding of some of the basic concepts regarding heat transfer. / Shows understanding of few of the basic concepts regarding heat transfer.
Inquiry and design skills / Uses tools, equipment, and materials correctly with little or no assistance. / Uses tools, equipment, and materials correctly with only occasional assistance. / Uses tools, equipment, and materials correctly with some assistance. / Uses tools, equipment, and materials correctly only with assistance.
Communication or required knowledge / Consistently uses appropriate science and technology terminology and units of measurement. / Usually uses appropriate science and technology terminology and units of measurement. / Sometimes uses appropriate science and technology terminology and units of measurement. / Rarely uses appropriate science and technology terminology and units of measurement.
Relating of science and technology to the world outside the school / Shows understanding of connections between science and technology and the world outside the school, as well as their implications. / Shows understanding of connections between science and technology and the world outside the school. / Shows some understanding of connections between science and technology and the world outside the school. / Shows little understanding of connections between science and technology and the world outside the school.
TOTAL / /32