Students learn science by crafting solar ovens

Science is a big part of the curriculum at Sisters Elementary School, where students in Clay Warburton's, Katie Parsons', and Julie Holden's classes got to be involved in a fun, hands-on experiment.

Students brought supplies from home and constructed their solar ovens during class-time. They had three days to complete the project, and then they had a cook-off.

The science project is designed to teach the kids about scientific inquiry. They formed questions, made hypothesis, designed the experiment, and collected data. When the process was over, they analyzed their results and formed new questions.

Ovens were placed outside, s'mores were placed inside, and temperatures were recorded. Periodically, over a two-hour time period, temperatures were re-checked and recorded - and the final step was to taste the s'mores.

Warburton said, "Most of the kids used cardboard boxes, tin foil, saran wrap and black spray paint to construct their ovens. They also used a thermometer to measure temperature. The kids focused on energy, and how they could change light energy into thermal energy."

A couple of students commented on their solar ovens, and how their s'mores turned out.

Mikey Crain said, "Our highest temperature was 110 degrees, and our s'mores turned out good. The chocolate wasn't all the way melted, but it was gooey enough to melt in our mouths."

Lorelai Moffat said, "The temperature in our oven got up to 130 degrees. The chocolate totally melted all the way, and the marshmallow toasted a little bit. It tasted like a microwave s'more, not a campfire s'more. I didn't really like it as much as a campfire s'more, but I learned about the sun's energy and how to turn it into thermal energy."

The event is a cornerstone of the science curriculum.

"This is one of the great traditions of fourth grade, and it goes back over 20 years," said Warburton.