Sunny The Solar Cooker
By:Rachel Sells
2nd period

My hypotheses is that if I place my solar cooker with my hot dog in it in direct sunlight for 2 hours the inside of the hotdog will heat up to at least 160 degrees fahrenheit.

THE MATERIALS USED

• Carboard shipping box
• Shredded news paper
• Clothes hanger
• Veggie Straws box
• Aluminum foil and thermometer

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MAKING SUNNY

• Cut off flaps of shipping box
• Use rolling pin to curve flaps
• Insulate box with shredded news paper
• Put flaps in bottom to make trough
• Put aluminum foil over interior of box

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MORE OF MAKING SUNNY

• Collapse Veggie Straws box to make reflector
• Cut hanger & put in edges of reflector box
• Tape hanger to edges of reflector box
• Cover reflector box in aluminum foil
• Put reflector box in side of other box

TESTING SUNNY

• Identify a spot with good sunlight
• Put Sunny in the spot with good sunlight
• Angle reflector so the sun shines on hotdog
• Put hotdog in trough of Sunny
• Use a thermoneter to measure temp. Every 20 min.

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HOTDOG TEMPERATURE VS. TIME GRAPH

Observations
The day we tested Sunny was a cloud free day. At time of the experiment the air temperature was 84 degrees Fahrenheit. At the beginning the hotdog was light pink and squishy. The inside of the hotdog stabilized at 129 degrees Fahrenheit. At the end of the experiment the hotdog was a dark pink color with slick sides.

Conclusion
Sunny was able to heat up the hotdog but not to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. Sunny only heated the hotdog to 129 degrees Fahrenheit. Therefore, my hypothesis was not correct. Next time I could build more reflectors to direct the sunlight onto the hotdog so that i could reach my target temperature.

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