How Does the Location Affect the �Temperature of a Solar Oven?
5-6642
5th Grade
Nativity Catholic School
Archdiocese of San Francisco
2024 San Mateo County Office of Education STEM Fair
Abstract
The purpose of my science project is how does the location affect the temperature of a solar oven. I was interested in the use of solar ovens and what we could possibly cook in it after I noticed my plate in the backyard under direct sunlight was a lot hotter than that of my brother’s in the shade. Based on the temperature of my plate in the sun, the hypothesis for my project is that the solar oven placed in direct sunlight will cook a lot faster than that in indirect sunlight. I made sure that I kept my controls constant by using smores in the experiment. I made sure to use the same size of graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate pieces in the experiments. I also made sure to do the experiments at the same time to control the outside temperature for the experiment. I varied the experiments by placing the solar oven in both direct and indirect sunlight. I noted both the starting and finishing cooking times for the smores in the two experiments. The end result of the two experiments is that the smore in direct sunlight cooked almost twice as fast as the smore cooked in indirect sunlight. The smore in direct sunlight took 62 minutes to cook while the smore in indirect sunlight cooked in 117 minutes. From this experiment I can conclude that a solar oven placed in direct sunlight will cook faster than one in indirect sunlight.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this experiment is to find out how the location affects the temperature of the solar oven. I became interested in this experiment when I noticed my plate in the backyard in sun was a lot hotter than that of my brother’s which was in the shade. I would like to discover how quickly marshmallows cook in the sun compared to the shade.I would also like to discover if using a solar oven to cook a marshmallow is safer way to cook smores than using actual fire. The information from this experiment will help people understand if a safer option exists to cook marshmallows and make smores.
Hypothesis
A solar oven can cook or warm up food instead of using a microwave. The heat generated from the sun will warm up the food. The heat generated from the solar oven will warm the marshmallow, causing it and the chocolate to melt in the smore.
Experimental Procedures and
Materials
Experimental Procedures
Experimental Procedures and
Materials
Experimental Procedures
9. Cut a stick about 12 inches to keep the oven open.
10. Place marshmallows and chocolate into the oven.
11. Use some paper fasteners and small rubber bands to help keep the box closed tightly.
12. Measure the time it takes the marshmallow to cook and the chocolate to melt on a sunny day in direct light.
13. Replace the cooked marshmallows and melted chocolate with new ones and place the oven away from direct sunlight but close enough for indirect sunlight to enter it.
14. Measure the time it takes the marshmallow to cook and the chocolate to melt on sunny day in indirect light.
Experimental Procedures and
Materials
Materials�
Experimental Results
I cooked two separate smores at the same time. The outside temperature was 81 degrees. The smore cooked in direct sunlight took 62 minutes, while the smoke cooked in indirect sunlight took 117 minutes. The marshmallow and chocolate cooked in direct sunlight was more gooey and softer than the smore cooked in indirect sunlight.
Cooked in Direct Sunlight
Cooked in Indirect Sunlight
Analysis of Experimental
Results
Cooking smores or anything in a solar oven takes much less time if it is in direct sunlight versus indirect sunlight. The foil in the solar oven reflects the sunlight beams, causing the sunlight beams to bounce into the opening of the box. This causes the sunlight beams to go through the plastic wrap and heat up the air that is trapped inside. The hot air inside the solar oven is what causes the marshmallow and chocolate to cook.
Cooking smores using indirect sunlight takes a lot longer because the sunlight beams are not directly hitting the foil in the solar oven. The sunlight beams could be reflecting off other nearby items onto the solar oven. This means the sunlight rays hitting the solar oven are less strong than those from direct sunlight.
These results confirm my hypothesis that a solar oven placed in direct sunlight, in the backyard, will cook faster than one placed in indirect sunlight.
Conclusions
My experiment proves that a solar oven placed in direct sunlight, in the backyard or anywhere else, will cook faster than one that is in indirect sunlight. The amount of time for the smore to cook in indirect sunlight was almost twice as long as the smore cooked in direct sunlight.
One question I have is how long would it take a smore to cook in both direct and indirect sunlight but with the outside temperature being only 65 degrees Farenheit, instead of the 81 degrees at the time of my experiment. My experiment would only change in that I would have to test it when the outside temperature is less and at 65 degrees Farenheit.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my dad for helping me with my project. In the beginning, I chose a topic that was too broad and not specific enough for this project. My dad helped me pick a more specific topic and one that I would enjoy doing.
My dad spent time putting the solar oven together and checking the weather to choose the best day to perform the experiment. We had fun cooking the smore and eating it afterwards.
Bibliography and
Sources
Buddies, S., & Buddies, S. (2022, March 3). Build A Solar Oven | Science Project. Science Buddies. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project-ideas/Energy_p018/energy-power/build-a-simple-solar-oven
Buddies, S., & Buddies, S. (2017, November 17). Solar ovens are totally hot! | Science Buddies blog. Science Buddies. https://www.sciencebuddies.org/blog/solar-ovens-are-totally-hot��Kidizens, R. G. (2023, July 21). How to build a solar Oven + Solar Energy science Experiment for kids. Raising Global Kidizens. https://www.raisingglobalkidizens.com/how-to-build-a-solar-oven/