Solar Ovens - Understanding Energy Transfer (Middle and High School curriculum lesson)

At the end of this lesson, students will understand that solar energy radiates from the sun to the Earth and gets trapped within the oven. Students will be able to explain how the thermal energy flows from the hot air to the cold water via conduction and will indicate that this would continue to happen until the water sample reaches the same temperature as the oven air. The students will also answer questions about how heat could be lost in the oven through conduction and convection, as well as how to get more solar radiation into the oven. This experiment will give them an opportunity to learn the relationships between conduction, convection, and radiation through a real-life learning experience. With regard to experimentation, students will also be learning to write hypotheses, utilize thermometers for measuring, and will practice constructing graphs for data analysis.