Technology Brief:

Solar Cooker

Your assignment is to design, build and test your own solar cooker.

Identify and investigate as many factors as you can that might affect the efficiency of your solar cooker (eg the Sun’s angle, cloud cover, wind, air temperature, size and colour of cooking pots and pans, food size, quantity and water content).

Choose a cooking project for your solar cooker. (A simple cake mix is ideal.)

Goal Reflection: Create a page report on your testing procedures and results. Include a labelled diagram to show the design of your cooker.

Good Luck!

Solar Cooker Design Brief Planner

Investigate and design

·  What information do you need to develop your design?

·  Make a list of questions you need to research.

·  Use simple mind maps, sketches and labelled diagrams to explore different design solutions. Develop three rough designs for your cooker. Remember your designs must include some of the simple features we’ve looked at this term. Label them as Design idea 1, Design idea 2, Design idea 3. Then the key parts of each design.

·  Choose one design solution. Record: Which number design have you chosen? and

Why did you choose this design?

·  Draw a more detailed plan and make a list of materials required and why you chose that material. Don’t forget to list joining materials (glues etc) too.

·  Record a list of design goals that’ll you use to evaluate your completed product.

Produce

·  Using your plan and list of materials construct your product.

·  Write a step-by-step plan of how you make your cooker including the tools and equipment that you will use.

·  Make ongoing modifications to your design and develop alternative solutions to fix any problems in your design.

Analysis and Evaluate

·  Present your finished product to the rest of the class, after camp. Explain its various features and why you have included them into your design.

·  Explain the difficulties or problems that you had and how you worked to overcome them.

·  Evaluate your completed product using your list of design goals.

Solar Cooker Record Sheet

My best design

·  Which number design have you chosen?

·  Why did you choose this design?

Write one material in each box. / Why did you choose this material?

Listing the materials


My plan

·  Write a step-by-step plan of how you will make your solar cooker including the tools and equipment that you will use.

Write the steps here / In this column list the tools and equipment you will use
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6

My design progress

·  On this and the next page, list the changes you made to your designs and the cooker, and explain why they were made. You don’t have to fill in every box. Just use as many as you need.

Changes made to your drawings/designs / Changes made to your cooker
Date:
Change/s made:
Reasons for changes made: / Date:
Change/s made:
Reasons for changes made:
Date:
Change/s made:
Reasons for changes made: / Date:
Change/s made:
Reasons for changes made:


Final Reflection

·  Draw a picture of your finished cooker (on a separate page).

·  Compare the drawing of your finished cooker with your first drawing.

List the things that are different. / Do you think the changes you made to your cooker made it better? Why?

·  Look back at the materials you said you would use. Did you use the same materials? Why/why not?

·  Do you think the materials you used were good materials to use? Why/why not?

·  Are there changes you could now make to your cooker that would make it better?