This is a really simple project that will allow you to make a solar cooker that will cook small bits of food with only light from the sun. It should work in any season of the year, as long as the sun is out. You will need a 30cm x 30cm sheet of aluminum foil, a piece of construction paper, some tape or glue, two styrofoam cups, some black poster paint, an elastic, and some plastic 'cling wrap'. You'll also need something to insulate your cooker, a big chunk of styrofoam, or a small cardboard box packed with dirt. First, paint the inside of one of the styrofoam cups with black poster paint, and allow it to dry. This will be the cooking chamber; the black paint will absorb sunlight and cause it to warm up. Add the food to the bottom of the cup. Chop it into small pieces. Vegetables and fruit work best; you should use foods which could be eaten raw, to avoid germs. Don't attempt to cook meat in the solar cooker Cover the cup with plastic 'cling wrap', and pull it tight; hold it in place with an elastic band around the rim of the cup. A piece of aluminum cooking foil will be used to collect sunlight. In order to stiffen it, tape or glue it to a piece of construction paper. Make sure the shiny side is up, and try to avoid getting any wrinkles in it. Wrap the aluminum foil around your cup, so that the foil faces inwards, and fasten with tape. Trim the top edge, so it looks like the picture. Put this inside a second cup, to hold the tube securely in place, and to provide a little more insulation for your oven. Your solar oven is almost ready to use! All you need to do now is find something to put it in that will help keep the heat in, and keep it pointed at the sun. We used an old chunk of styrofoam; we cut a cup-sized hole in it at an angle, and wedged our oven into the hole. But you can find other ways to accomplish the same thing. A small cardboard box filled with dirt, which is a good insulator, will also keep your collector pointed at the sun if you bury it at an angle. Or if it isn't winter, you can just bury the collector in the ground. Just be sure to keep the foil collector unwrinkled, and pointing at the sun. You'll be amazed at how hot the cooking chamber gets. Resources