We opened with a brief discussion of why the sun has been worshipped throughout human history and saw an instructional video on creating a solar oven from a pizza box. Since new pizza boxes are more dear than I expected, I collected shallow boxes from BJ's to make up the difference. Given the large classes, the construction process was chaotic, but the students seemed to enjoy the collaborative effort and dug right in. Constructing the oven gave them an understanding of how the energy is collected (reflective foil, black paper for absorption of light, plastic wrap window to keep heat in).
We--both 5th grade classes--tested our solar ovens by spending the end of a Friday afternoon in the school yard. Students had brief instruction on setting the foil panel to catch the rays of the sun by propping it up with a stick. We let the pizza heat, and classroom teachers conducted class outdoors in the meantime. Although I provided a dumpster for students to dispose of their solar ovens afterward, many of them wanted to take them home. Judging by the students who've stopped me in the hall to ask about the next part of the lesson (creating a reverse pastel sun god inspired painting), they are enthusiastic about their solar unit.
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