Kids Have Their Science Lesson and Eat It Too

Using solar ovens built from recycled materials, fifth-grade students at Tustin Memorial Elementary School cooked up a treat Friday for themselves and their classmates: hot dogs heated to a sizzle by the morning’s bright sun.

The students built the eight ovens, some of which got as hot as 275 degrees, as part of their study of the Earth’s atmosphere and the greenhouse effect, teacher Mark Payne said. “This is free energy, and we’re not polluting,” he said.

Each oven was made of two cardboard boxes, one inside the other with layers of newspapers between them as insulation. Aluminum foil and clear plastic wrap were used to draw the heat and trap it inside the ovens, which were hot enough to cook hot dogs, soups, chili and even chicken, said Payne, a former chef.

The ovens were painted black, with labels such as “Solar Barbecue” and “Solar Fun” added by the 30 students who worked on the project.

“I learned a lot,” said Erika Fujimoto, 11. The oven “is like the Earth and ozone layer. The Saran Wrap is like the ozone layer and keeps the heat trapped in, and it bounces around.”

Erika said she was also pleased with the culinary results, which yielded enough food for about 75 at a class picnic.

“The hot dogs are good,” she said. “They weren’t all dried out. They’re juicy.”

Kyle Roybal, 11, added, “You can leave them in as long as you want, and they never burn.”

Vivian Lopez, 11, said she enjoyed the project because it reminded her of the ovens her grandmother uses in Guatemala.

“My grandma runs an academy for cooking and can’t always afford gas for all the ovens,” Vivian said. “So she uses solar ovens for cakes and other things.”

Randy Stuck, also 11, had praise for the project too because it called for action.

“Instead of just sitting inside and learning about the Earth, we get to go outside and see how it works,” he said.

“And we get to eat too.”