Harness the amazing energy emitted by the sun with a hands-on activity that lets students build their own solar cooking device.
OVERVIEW
Did you know that the sun is the greatest source of energy on our planet? It can help plants
grow, warm our beaches and bodies of water, and cook a hot dog! That’s right! The sun is a
great source of energy for cooking. In this activity, you will harness the mighty energy of the
sun and give solar cooking a try!
OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
• explain how the sun is the greatest source of energy on our planet.
• define solar energy and how it is related to solar power.
• design and build a solar cooker.
• successfully cook an item using their solar cooker.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Solar energy is by far the Earth’s most available energy source. Solar power is capable of
providing many times the total current energy demand. The sun radiates more energy in one
second than the world has used since time began! Only a small portion of the energy radiated
by the sun strikes the Earth. Yet this amount is still enormous. Enough energy strikes the U.S. every day to supply the nation’s energy needs for one and a half years. Yet we are not using all of this energy!
We use energy from the sun in many ways. We use sunlight to see where we are going. We eat
plants that grow from the sun’s energy. And we eat meat and animals that eat the plants that
grow from the sun’s energy. Solar energy also powers our water cycle and wind cycle. Some
people (maybe even you!) even use solar energy to heat their homes and cook their food. One
of these ways is through solar ovens. One of the many cool things about solar ovens is that they don’t need electricity, gas, or wood to work– they cook food using only sunlight! Basically, you put food in a box and trap the sun’s heat by covering the box with glass or plastic. Solar cookers are great because they save money and energy, and produce no pollution. People don’t have to cut down trees for firewood, and they make no smoke to hurt people’s lungs, things that are big problems in countries that don’t have as much money as we do. Solar cookers can also be used to make water safe to drink, make doctor’s tools safe to use, and heat water for laundry.
Grades 6 – 8
