With the weather dropping below the '90s in Tampa on Wednesday for a "cool" day, CDS 5th graders weren't sure their smores would melt in their homemade solar ovens. The ovens were a sea of tin foil as the students set them up carefully at 10 am. They then went back to class and wondered if they had done enough to come back to a melted treat.

After studying energy in this month's science Unit of Inquiry, students were tasked with creating their own solar ovens that would use thermal energy to cook their smores.  Fifth graders learned about heat transfer, convection, conduction, and insulation in preparation for their assignment. They read about groups such as the Solar Cookers International (SCI) and the environmental group Earthwatch who have brought solar ovens to countries all over the world with the goal of creating a safe, pollution-free way to cook.

Noon came quickly for the excited CDS 5th graders and they rushed out to see if the cooking was complete. There were smiles and giggles as one by one they pulled out their messy treats to find their ovens had been successful.

Thank you to the CDS 5th-grade teachers, Mrs. Monty, Mrs. Rodriguez, Ms. Youngblood, Mrs. Viera, & Ms. Haywood, for facilitating this lesson. It was a delicious one!