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Solar Ovens

By Platform Administrator · Submitted Sep 30, 2026

Content Area
Science and Technology/Engineering
Grade
7

In developing countries, some communities might not have electricity. These communities could benefit from designs to assist in cooking their food. Students take on the role of an engineer to design a solar oven with recycled materials. The solar oven must rise in temperature and cook or melt an item.

MA Standards

7.PS.3.3
Apply scientific principles of energy and heat transfer to design, construct, and test a device to minimize or maximize thermal energy transfer.* Clarification Statement: Examples of devices could include an insulated box, a solar cooker, and a vacuum flask. State Assessment Boundary: Accounting for specific heat or calculations of the total amount of thermal energy transferred is not expected in state assessment.
7.PS.3.4
Conduct an investigation to determine the relationships among the energy transferred, how well the type of matter retains or radiates heat, the mass, and the change in the average kinetic energy of the particles as measured by the temperature of the sample. State Assessment Boundary: Calculations of specific heat or the total amount of thermal energy transferred are not expected in state assessment.
7.PS.3.5
Present evidence to support the claim that when the kinetic energy of an object changes, energy is transferred to or from the object. Clarification Statement: Examples of empirical evidence could include an inventory or other representation of the energy before and after the transfer in the form of temperature changes or motion of an object. State Assessment Boundary: Calculations of energy are not expected in state assessment.
7.PS.3.6
Use a model to explain how thermal energy is transferred out of hotter regions or objects and into colder ones by convection, conduction, and radiation.

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