For you to do
You'll line a box with foil to bounce sunlight in, cover the opening with plastic to trap heat, and use a black base to soak up warmth — then bake a s'more.
Grown-up help
Check in with a grown-up about going outside and about the oven getting genuinely hot in strong sun. Then it's yours to run.
Build the oven
- Cut a flap in the lid and line its inside with foil to reflect sun inward.
- Line the box bottom with black paper. Cover the opening with plastic wrap to trap heat.
- Prop the flap with a stick, aim it at the sun, and put a s'more inside.
Test a variable
Try the oven with the foil flap up vs. flat, or facing the sun vs. shaded. Change only one thing and write down how warm it gets.
What's happening
Push further
What design heats a cup of water the most in 30 minutes? Sketch your best oven.
The foil reflects sunlight onto the black base, which absorbs it and warms up; the plastic traps that heat like a tiny greenhouse. The whole oven is a **system** where each part has a job. Changing one **variable** at a time and recording careful **observation** tells you which part matters most.