How to make a Pizza Box Solar Oven!
This experiment will work great in full sun on a day when there isn’t much wind. The best option is to find a large window indoors that faces the mid-day sun’s rays.
Items required:
A large pizza box
white glue
several feet of aluminum foil
a ruler
a permanent marker
sturdy scissors
one sheet of black construction paper
1/2 feet of clear plastic wrap
4 feet of masking tape
2 feet of string
a sunny day
Now what: Open a large pizza box. Now take the shiny silver foil and glue the foil to the inner surface of the box, except the top, with the shiny side facing outside. Close the box.
On the outside of the top of the box, measure one inch from the edge on all sides and draw a square. Have a grown-up help you cut along three lines of the square, leaving the fourth line along the box’s hinge uncut. Fold open this newly cut flap, making a crease along the fourth line. Open the box lid and glue aluminum foil to the inside surface of the new flap. Smooth any wrinkles in the foil as you go.
The black paper should be stuck to the inside of the box using tape. Carefully stretch the plastic wrap over the opening of the box created by the new flap. Use tape all around the edges of the plastic to seal it. Cover any cracks or tears around the edges of the box to prevent air leaks, but make sure you can still open the box.
Cooking instructions: Place the oven on a flat, level surface in the sunlight. The solar oven works best on sunny days from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. This is because it is during this period of time when the intensity of the solar rays is greatest. Place food inside the oven. Close the top of the box.
Use tape to attach a piece of string to the outside of the foil-covered flap. Pull the string back so that the flap reflects the sunlight onto the food in the oven. Check occasionally to make sure the sunlight is being reflected into the oven. Cooking a pizza with pita bread as crust should take about 30 minutes on a sunny day.
Summary: Using items from around your house, make an environmentally-friendly solar oven!
October 29th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
[...] Items required: A large pizza box white glue several feet of aluminum foil a ruler a permanent marker sturdy scissors one sheet of black construction paper 1/2 feet of clear plastic How to make a Pizza Box Solar Oven! [...]
November 21st, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Love this pizza science project. Was looking for similar neat science things to do and cam accross
http://weirdsciencekids.com/FunExperiments.html for anyone interested