After you've got your pizza box, most of the other supplies should be simple to find. If you have trouble finding the hard plastic, you can buy a sheet at your local home improvement store. For our pizza box oven, we used a 14" x 14" piece of thin Plexiglas.

Any time that you are doing a science experiment, it's a good idea to keep good notes of everything. If you are planning to use this solar oven as part of a science fair project, you may want to create some charts to record the temperature outside, the time of day, the date, the temperature inside the solar oven, and your cooking results. If you record your data accurately from the beginning, it is more precise and less time-consuming than if you try to remember all the details later. It is also nice to take pictures while you're doing your experiments. The pictures can be used on a display in any demonstration that you may give on the solar oven. I have found that many people can better understand exactly what was done when they see a couple of pictures. Check out the box below for some specific research ideas you can test with your solar oven.

When you are ready to put the solar oven together, you first need to measure and mark a 1 inch border around the top of the pizza box, giving you a square drawn on the top of the box. Cut three sides of this square, leaving the fourth side uncut, forming a flap on the top of the pizza box.

Measure out a length of aluminum foil to fit on the inside of the flap. Smooth the foil so that there are no wrinkles and then glue it to the inside of the flap.

Next you should open the pizza box and fit the hard plastic or Plexiglas onto the underside of the top of the pizza box. The plastic should be a little larger than your opening. With duct tape, seal the plastic to the underside with no spots for air to escape.

At this point you are very close to being done. Your next step is to measure out and glue aluminum foil to the inside of the bottom of the pizza box. Remember to get out all of the wrinkles before gluing. The last step of the construction of the oven is to lay one or two sheets of black construction paper onto the aluminum foil in the bottom and tape it with scotch tape so that it is secure. Congratulations! You've just made a solar oven.

To cook in your solar oven, set the oven in a sunny place. With the stick or dowel rod, prop open the flap on top of the oven. You will notice that the sun's rays reflect off of the foil on the flap into the pizza box. Adjust the flap so that the most light possible is going into your oven. Place your oven thermometer in the solar oven so that you will know how hot your oven is getting inside. Just like a regular oven, it will not be hot immediately. You can preheat your oven or begin when it is cold. You might want to get your Mom's opinion on what type of food would be best to start experimenting with. Make sure that you set the food on a heat resistant plate or cooking pan, so that you do not soil the inside of your oven. My family cooked s'mores for our first cooking experiment, but you can try whatever you would like. I would make it simple the first time. Remember to record your data if you are intending to keep scientific records.

Isn't it amazing how God created the world we live in? The sun is huge. In fact, it is 109 times larger than the earth. The sun's heat keeps our planet warm enough, but not too hot for life. Yet we can learn how to use the energy that God put in the sun to help us make lunch. Is it a coincidence that the amount of heat and energy the sun sends to the earth is "just right" for us to live? No, I don't believe in coincidences. When God created the universe, He knew exactly what He was doing, and created Earth to be a special, unique place that could support life. When we learn more about science, we learn more and more about the wonders of God's creation!

Enjoy your oven, and happy eating!

----------------

Melissa Pinkley enjoys life with her husband, Wes. They learn a lot from their four children: Ben, Micah, Levi and Abigail. Homeschooling goes on 24/7 for the whole Pinkley family. They have been homeschooling for 6 years.  The Lord is gracious and continues to help them follow Him.

This article was originally published in the July/Aug '07 issue of Home School Enrichment Magazine. For more details, visit http://HomeSchoolEnrichment.com