Use this interactive activity to design a solar cooker.
You can choose different variables to reach temperatures needed to cook food such as chicken, pizza and eggs using the sun's energy.
Structure and features
- Engage with this interactive science investigation to use the sun for renewable energy.
- Design a solar cooker by choosing the appropriate features: shape, direction and surface.
- You need to change each design variable and observe the effect on cooking temperature.
- Test your solar cooker designs on a variety of foods.
- Reflect on the feedback on how well your design suits the type of food being cooked.
- Record your results in a table.
- Discuss the variables required to increase the temperature to cook the food.
- Explain how the sun's energy is used to cook the food.
Teacher notes
- Science understanding strand and science inquiry skills
- Earth and space science
- Year 7
- Renewable energy.
Students:
- recognise that the sun is a source of renewable energy
- identify surfaces that will absorb or reflect heat
- compare the concentration of solar energy captured using a range of orientations and concavity of surfaces
- compare the results of different simulations to determine the best design for a solar cooker.
