ShmoopTube

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[Dino and Coop singing]

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Some days of school are extra fun… [Girl smiling in the corridor]

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Like any day the cafeteria serves your favorite hot lunch... [Girl cheering next to burgers]

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Or like…any field trip…

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Or maybe a snow day, where you didn't have to go to school at all! [Girl riding a sled]

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Though…we suppose that last one doesn't really count.

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But you know what our personal favorite is? [Girl sat in front of a laptop]

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Any day we get to dig into to our very own homemade s'mores!

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That's pretty much the next best thing to a snow day, right? [Coop next to a s'more]

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And if you're watching this video, you're in luck…today, you'll be building your very

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own solar oven!

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…or maybe you just randomly clicked on this video, and you won't be getting any s'mores. [Stop sign appears]

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Man.

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That'd be a bummer.

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But if you are going to be building a solar oven and chowing on s'mores, then let's get

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started!

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Oh, and before you start thinking, "Sweet!

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A Shmoop video with zero educational purpose," Well… [Education drops from above and smashes into the desk]

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…sorry."

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There's definitely a lesson today, but there's also s'mores, so…c'mon.

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This is a sweet deal. [Girl smiling with a s'more in each hand]

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Pun intended.

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Anyway, the lesson today is all about solar power. [Coop pointing at solar power on a blackboard]

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Solar power is a popular form of alternative energy used all over the world, and it uses

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both the sun's light and heat to create energy.

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If you've ever seen a solar panel before, you've seen solar power in action. [Sun appears wearing shades]

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But if you haven't ever seen a solar panel, don't fret, because through the magic of video…

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Bam.

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There's a solar panel. [Girl pointing at the solar panel looking amazed]

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The solar ovens you'll build today will be another shining example of the power of solar [Girl holding the sun above her head]

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energy.

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And…y'know.

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S'mores.

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So get excited!

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First things first, open up that pizza box.

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If there's any pizza left, eat it. [A slice of pizza is left in the box]

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Or save it for later.

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But do not, under any circumstances, throw the pizza out.

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There is nothing worse in this world than wasted pizza. [Girl holding a bin lid in one hand and the pizza slice in the other]

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Once you've done that, close the box back up, take a ruler and measure one inch from

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each side of your pizza box. [Markings are made a inch from the sides]

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Then use those points to create the outline of a square, like so.

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Now, using scissors or the utility knife, carefully cut three of the four sides of your [The sides are cut with a knife]

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square – but not the side closest to the hinge of the box.

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The hinge is where the pizza box flips up, and if you cut this side, well, the whole

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thing won't work, and that means no s'mores. [Stop sign appears]

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You've been warned.

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Oh, and speaking of warnings – be super careful with your knife or scissors. [Girl looks scared by the scissors and knife as they appear]

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A trip to the hospital would also put a damper on the whole s'mores thing.

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Once you've cut the three sides, you'll want to fold the flap back just a bit on the side

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that you didn't cut.

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This is our lid.

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Enter our aluminum foil – or as they say in England, “al-you-minny-um.” [Guy wearing a bowler hat and union jack jacket]

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You don't need to know that, but we just like saying it.

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"Al you minny um, al you minny um."

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Heh.

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You're going to want to line the inside of the cardboard flaps with the foil, making [Glue being applied to the inside of the flap]

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sure to fold the edges of it over the top of the flap before gluing it all in place,

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so that the inside of your opening is totally metallic.

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This is going to reflect heat from the sun down into your oven. [Sun beams hitting the pizza box]

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Oh, and try to keep the foil as flat as possible. [Hand flattens the foil]

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The more crinkles and cracks you have, the s'less s'more cooking will go on.

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Okay, now take a look at that gap created by the flap in the box, right by the lid there.

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You'll want to cover that up with plastic wrap and black electric tape.

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We don't want any holes or gaps in this thing when we close it up, so don't be shy with [Tape being applied]

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your use of tape here.

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This is kinda like how a car gets super hot when it's out in the sun with the windows

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rolled up.

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The sunlight goes through the windows and heats the air up, and then the hot air can't [Car getting hotter in the sun]

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get out since the windows are sealed shut.

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Now back to the foil.

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Just like we did to our lid, we'll want to do to the inside of our box.

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So whip out your aluminum foil and glue and get to work, covering up every square inch [Foil being put into the inside of the box]

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of the inside with the shiny stuff.

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Ooh….shiny.

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When we close our box, we want the entire inside to be lined up and down with foil,

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like so.

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Once you've glued foil all up in that box, we need to take our black piece of construction

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paper and glue it to the bottom of the inside of the box.

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This is where the actual cooking is going to take place – so we'll call it a heat sink. [Heat sink is shown]

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Now all that's left to do is tape our pencil, or skewer, into place like so, just in the

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right position that it props up the top of our box about 90 degrees. [Hand shows the lid is open 90 degrees]

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Once you've done that, your solar oven is all done and ready for cooking.

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So ask your teacher for the cabbage and beets and we'll have a nice vegetable roast going [Vegetables are chucked into the solar oven]

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on in no time at all!

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…Heh.

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Just kidding.

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Bring on the s'mores!!!! [Giant s'more appears]

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