Solar Cooking

THE SUN IS OUR FRIEND! CHILDREN'S SOLAR COOKER EASY TO MAKE   USE A CARDBOARD BOX!! Materials needed. Sun ( got that!) Knife to cut cardboard (got that too!) A cardboard box (easy enough and free!) Aluminium foil heavy guage (from the kitchen) Masking tape (or ducktape) Black poster paint (or PVA = waterbased) Clear plastic sheeting      (thick type used for covering school books) Newspaper You can substitute newspaper      insulation with styrofoam with covered aluminium Method With the knife, cut the cardboard box as shown in the diagram below. Remember to make the back about twice the height of the front, so that the lid will be at an angle to the sun. Don't cut the front too short either, as the rays need to reflect off the inside front of the box as well. Now cover the inside (sides and base) of the box with a few layers of newspaper. This will act as an insulator. Then cover this again with a layer of tinfoil.*  If you wish, you can cut styrofoam to fit the inside box. (You can buy covered styrofoam with foil or just cover it yourself.) Make sure that the foil overlaps all the edges of the box, and tape the excess to the outside of the box. Paint the "outside" of the box with the black paint (this absorbs the sun's rays). Cut a double layer of the plastic, big enough to OVERLAP all the edges of the box. Tape these 2 layers together, and then fasten one edge to the back of the box with the tape. To ensure that this 'lid' does not blow off, either thread a dowel stick (about 1cm in diameter) or a row of curtain lead weights, through the end of the plastic that will hang in front of the box. Your solar cooker is now ready to be used! Easy wasn't it?