Hands-on experiment from St Finbarr’s Primary School (Byron Bay) exploring Energy in Science and Technology with a focus on the heat and light energy, their characteristics and effects on the world around us. Think conduction, convection and radiation, penguins and popcorn!

This experiment is designed for Year 3 and 4 students, challenging students to become an engineer and come up with a way to:

• Build a solar oven with a variety of materials (such as cardboard, newspaper and aluminium foil)

To be successful as a system, solar ovens need to demonstrate 4 criteria elements:

1. The concentration of sunlight – a reflective surface that directs sunlight into the centre of the solar oven
2. The absorption of sunlight – a colour material to absorb light to make heat inside the oven
3. The conduction of heat – a material that can transfer heat to the food
4. The retention of heat – a way to trap the heat energy inside the solar oven. (Can you trap the sun’s heat to cook something delicious?)

Read more here.