Can you cook food using only sunlight? You sure can! Let’s build a solar oven from things you probably have at home.
What You’ll Need
📦 An empty pizza box
🪞 Aluminum foil
🎞️ Plastic wrap
✂️ Scissors (ask a grown-up!)
🧷 Tape
📏 A ruler
🍫 A small piece of chocolate or a s’more to cook
How to Build It
1. Draw a square on the top lid of the pizza box, leaving a 2-cm border.
2. Cut along three sides of the square (not the back), so it opens like a flap.
3. Cover the inside of the flap with aluminum foil — shiny side out. This will reflect sunlight!
4. Cover the opening (where the flap was) with plastic wrap, taped tight. This is your “window.”
5. Put your food inside the box, close it, and place it in direct sunlight.
6. Open the foil flap and angle it so the sun reflects light into the box.
How It Works
Sunlight enters through the plastic window. The foil bounces extra light in. Once inside, the light turns into heat and can’t escape easily — that’s the greenhouse effect! The box gets warmer and warmer until it can melt chocolate, soften cheese, or warm up food.
Tips for Success
☀️ Best on hot, sunny days (above 25°C).
⏰ Cooking takes 30 minutes to a few hours.
🌡️ A small thermometer inside can show how hot it gets!
Cool fact: real solar ovens are used around the world to cook food where there’s no electricity. Now you’ve built your own — well done, scientist! 🔬
