Science Smarts: Solar s’mores

By PATTY ROOKS on September 9, 2023.

I do not know about you, but I am just not ready to let go of summer yet!

There are so many fun activities to enjoy with your family. One of ours is going camping. Although, it may be hard to get out camping again, so I thought I would bring one of my favoUrite activities to you. This is a fun way to keep summer alive without a campfire. Let’s get started!

*Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

– Empty pizza box

– Clear plastic food wrap

– Black construction paper

– Scissors

– Retractable cutting knife

– Ruler

– Tin foil

– Marker

– Glue

– Duct tape

– Clear plastic tape

– Aluminum foil

– Large wooden skewer

– Thermometer

– Materials to make s’mores

Procedure

1. Close the pizza box and on the lid draw a square five centimetres from the sides all of the way around.

2. Have an adult help you. With the retractable knife, carefully cut on the top line, and the two sides. You want the bottom to still be attached so you have a flap.

3. Line the entire inside of the pizza box with aluminum foil. You may have to hold it in place with some glue.

4. Make sure you also line the flap on the top of the pizza box with aluminum foil.

5. Close the pizza box and open the flap. Cover the “window” with plastic food wrap. Stretch it tight and tape it in place. You want to have a nice clear window.

6. Line the bottom of the box (over the aluminum foil) with black construction paper. Secure this in place with tape or glue. You want to make sure it is secure as when you go outside, you do not want it to blow around.

7. Make your s’mores and place them in the oven. At this time, you may also want to place a thermometer in the oven so you can see how hot it gets.

8. Find a sunny location outside (or inside) and place the solar oven in direct light. Carefully open the flap and position the wooden skewer between the window and flap so it stays open to absorb the sunlight.

9. Make observations and be patient!

What is going on?

A solar oven works by converting sunlight to heat energy and retaining if for cooking. This is precisely what you did in this experiment. You covered the entire inside of the pizza box with aluminum foil which catches as much sunlight as it can.

By placing the black construction paper on the bottom of the box, you created a cooking surface that can retain heat very well. When you closed the lid, you now trapped all of that heat inside the oven with the plastic warp, allowing the oven to now heat up and cook those delicious s’mores!

Mark your calendars as the Praxis AGM will be on Friday, Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. We are always in need of volunteers and Board members. For more info, please contact Patty.

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. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403-527-5365, email: praxis@praxismh.ca.

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