Students designed and used solar ovens for a solar cook off on Monday, May 19.

As part of a unit on sustainability, teams of environmental science students researched and designed solar ovens and then cooked a s'more, biscuit dough, and potato from 10 a.m. until the end of school at 3:19 p.m. Students used mirrors and aluminum foil to reflect sunlight into a central container, which was ideally black to absorb heat. The cool weather and slight wind created an extra challenge for cooking, but at least one oven's temperature was measured at approximately 30 degrees warmer than the air temperature. The chocolate was fully melted, but the potato and dough were not fully cooked by the end of the day.

The team of Dan Beaupain, Benjamin Miller, and Nick Escobedo were voted by their classemates for creating an oven with the sturdiest construction, most creative design, and the most effective final product.

While solar ovens are most commonly used in tropical regions, they can also work in more northern regions. Environmental Science teache Amy Thut was inspired to do this project after seeing a demonstration several years ago at the Midwest Renewable Energy Fair in central Wisconsin.