Fun with Solar Ovens

"Because it is warm and sunny today, we will be doing our solar ovens after lunch," I stated while teaching the concept of cause and effect Thursday morning.

There was a moment of stunned silence, and then my class erupted in cheers.

GB

I couldn't blame them - they'd been waiting for over two weeks for the weather to be right! And so, after lunch recess, we loaded up our ovens, the chocolate, marshmallows, and graham crackers, and headed outside.

We worked in groups of three to design, build, and cook.

GH, BP, and EP.

MCM, JS, and GB.

AM, RP, and MM.

This group used a magnifying glass to focus the rays of the sun onto their marshmallows.

GS, ZH, and AY.

Another tactic was using plastic wrap to trap the heat and keep it from escaping.

EW, EK, and GG.

A mirror and a magnifying glass - great idea!

Another design for trapping heat/insulation - using a clear glass bowl over the marshmallows.

HS, SS, and JK.

JR and GCD. SR is in this group, but he'd moved out of the picture. That's RR in the background, adjusting her focus.

Our buddies came out after we got set up so they could watch us cook.

K with BP and EP.

D loves buddy time and giving high fives.

P and friends.

Mrs. Wireman and D check out an oven.

While the children baked, I opened packages of graham crackers and Hershey Bars. As rumor got out that the candy was open, the "wolves" seemed to appear.

RR, JK, AY, CP and JS. hope for some chocolate.

I wanted to take a picture for Kyle to show him how I am using the buckets he got me for my birthday, but got photobombed by GS, AY, EP, RP, and JK!

Preparing s'mores for a bunch of hungry kiddos.

D, MCM, and GS play a hand game while waiting on their marshmallows.

S and Mrs. Wireman (our buddy class teacher) enjoyed the warm sun.

"Look, Mrs. I.! There's a reflection on your shirt! And we have NO IDEA how it got there!!" said RR and JS.

RP explains (with great enthusiasm) his solar oven concept to Mr. Schnepp.

We learned that we needed to adjust our ovens in order to focus them as the afternoon wore on. Why? Because the angle of the sunlight changed as the earth rotated.

Ds favorite game is Duck, Duck, Goose, and both classes joined in for a very active game!

Mrs. Fields looks at AL, CP, and RR's oven.

It took a while, but at last our marshmallows were cooked.

JK - ready for his marshmallow. (While RP photobombs in the background.)

HS takes a bite.

CP and GS smile in approval.

AY is all smiles.

Homemade s'mores in solar ovens designed and built by us? Perfect!