Science Smarts: Let’s get started with science fair projects
By PATTY ROOKS on September 25, 2021.
I know I am deviating a bit from my Halloween theme the past few weeks, but I almost forgot that we are celebrating National Science and Technology Literacy Week. This is a great week, and if you have kept an eye on our social media we have been sharing some great tips about how to get started with a Science Fair project. Now, I saw some eyes roll out there, but it is NOT too early to get started on this very worthwhile project. Even if you do not do a project in your class at school, you are welcome to showcase your hard work at the Kiwanis Regional Science Fair every spring right here in Medicine Hat. We want students from all over southeastern Alberta to showcase their amazing projects. In order to help you out, this week, I thought I would share a great project in keeping with the week’s theme of “climate change” that may help you get motivate. Let’s get started! Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment. Materials – Empty pizza box – Aluminum foil – Sunny day – Plastic wrap – Tape – Scissors – Ruler – Marker – Graham wafers – Marshmallows — Chocolate pieces – Paper plate – Pencil Procedure 1. Measure a five-centimeter border around the top flap of the pizza box. Draw it in with the marker. 2. Have an adult cut around three sides of this border. You will have a flap that opens into the pizza box now. 3. Line the entire pizza box with aluminum foil. If you are having trouble keep it in place, tape it securely. 4. Open the flap to the box and inside this window, place plastic wrap. Tape the plastic wrap securely in place. 5. Make a s’more and put it on the plate. 6. Place the paper plate inside the pizza box. 7. Place the solar oven in a sunny location. 8. Prop open the window with the pencil. 9. Be patient! 10. Check on your s’more every once in a while. 11. Enjoy your delicious treat! What is going on? This time of the year, this experiment may take some time to do, BUT it will work. With that being said, that ties into making this your very own SCIENCE FAIR project. Think of something you can manipulate in this experiment. For instance, “time of day;” will the solar cooker work best between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.? What about the size or type of the box? Do you think that could make a difference? The whole idea behind developing a science fair project is to takes something that you are interested in and experiment with it to make it your own. Now the science behind this is pretty simple. You actually made a solar cooker in this experiment. A solar cooker is a simple way to cook food from a renewable energy source. In this instance we are using sunlight. A solar cooker uses the energy of direct sunlight to cook food. Using full, direct sunlight is very important for heating this solar oven. The sunlight needs to be reflected into the oven from the aluminum foil you lined the box with. You are converting the sun’s light rays which are concentrated and trapped in the pizza box by the aluminum foil. These rays are then transformed into thermal energy. This thermal energy raises the temperature inside of the box and remains trapped by the plastic wrap window you made which then cooks the food. For more ideas on science fair projects, be sure to visit the Praxis website. Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, http://www.praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook or make an appointment to visit us at #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca. 39-38
