The Solar Cookout

The solar cookout, in my opinion, was a huge success for my group. The most important thing that I learned from the solar cookout is that it is very easy to make food out of simple everyday objects. It does not take a lot of money to make an effective cooker that can save lives and educate people. Another skill that I learned was how to make use of a limited amount of time. When I was working with my group, we did most of the work for the cooker in the classroom. Something to note for seventh graders is to not procrastinate on this project. Once you know what kind of cooker design you want, immediately start working on it. The reason for this is because you want to test as much as you can so that you can learn from your mistakes. In the future, I would recommend making a cooker that is out of the ordinary. My group went with a different type of cooker. We chose the tire cooker. It is a very simple, yet effective cooker. As a whole, the cookout proved that anyone, with any mind, can design something that can save a life. Here is a picture of my project:

The Tire Cooker

What Solar Cooker Design Did Your Group Choose? Why?

My group chose the tire cooker design. We concluded that this was the best way to go as it is easy to make and carry out. Two of us in the group (out of three) wanted to do a box cooker but the other person in our group convinced us that it really was a great design. On the topic of how it will work, the tire has a gap in the middle of it. In there, we will have our pot or pan where we will cook our food. That area will be competely sealed off. Because of it being closed, air will not enter nor will it exit. The sun's rays will get trapped inside the cooker through the glass that is on top of it. After this, the temperature rises slowly, cooking whatever food is inside of it. As for design, the tire cooker has a tire, plexiglass on top, and a black wooden board on the bottom of it. Inside of it, there will be a pot or pan where the food will be located. The glass will regularly reflect the rays and the black wooden board will absorb the heat. The way the rays come into the solar cooker is known as the Law of Reflection. Here is a diagram of our soon to be solar cooker and the way it will interact with the sun's rays:

Solar Cooking On Campus

Which Solar Cooker Design is Best and Why?

     For me, the box cooker is the best type of solar cooker. While not the coolest looking, it is the most versatile and easy to use out of the three cookers. The materials needed to make a box cooker can pretty much be found around a regular house or school (Scissors, tape, cardboard, etc.) The cost of making a box cooker should only range from about $10-$20. This is probably the easiest to use out of all the cookers as well. The concept of the box cooker is simple: the box collects and holds in the thermal energy therefore heating up whatever's inside the box. This may be an effecient cooker, but it is the least durable compared to the other cookers. The box structure can easily be broken. However, this all depends on what materials you are using. In conclusion, the box cooker is easy to use, easy to make, and easy to comprehend.

    Image Source: Kyoto Energy; Link to Site: http://www.cnet.com/news/a-5-solar-stove-for-rural-poor-paid-for-by-polluters/