TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction: 2
Activity 1: How Much Heat Do You Get from the Sun in Your Room? 4
Activity 2: The Sun Heats Water. 5
Activity 3: White in the Sun 6
Activity 4: The Spectrum 7
Activity 5: Weather in a Casserole Dish 8
Activity 6: A Scientific Explanation of a Magnifying Glass 10
Activity 7: Converging Light Rays 11
Activity 8: Maximum Temperature 12
Activity 9: Left – Right 13
Activity 10: Convex Mirror 14
Activity 11: Concave Mirror 15
Activity 12: Assembling the Solar Furnace 16
Activity 13: How Does a Solar Furnace Work? 17
Activity 14: Assembling the Test Tube Stand 18
Activity 15: Boiling Water 19
Activity 16: Can You Cook an Egg (the Egg White)? 20
Activity 17: Burning a Feather 21
Activity 18: Melt a Candle 22
Activity 19: A Little Outside Help 23
Activity 20: How Do Solar Cells Work? 24
Activity 21: Assembling the Solar Cell Support 25
Activity 22: Assembling the Motor Support 26
Activity 23: Solar Energy Powers an Electric Motor. 28
Activity 24: Can You Make the Motor Spin Even on a Rainy Day? 29
Activity 25: The Propeller 30
Activity 26: Shaping the Propeller 32
Activity 27: The Moving Patterns 34
Activity 28: Airplane Mobile 36
Activity 29: Make a Carousel (The Function of Distance) 38
Activity 30: Make a Bird Mobile (The Function of Quantity) 40
Activity 31: Combining the Solar Furnace and the Solar Cell 42
2
About Your Solar Science Lab
This kit contains most of the equipment required to perform the
activities described. In addition, you will need some common household
objects such as dishes, glasses, and spoons. Please note that the colors
of certain objects may differ slightly from the drawings.
Read the related text before you try to assemble the components
pictured in the drawings.
Because each activity builds on the previous ones, it is recommended
that you complete the activities in the order they are presented.
Parts included:
• Parabolic reflector • Plastic sticks • Motor support
• Mirror • Propeller • Furnace support
• Test tube holder • Electric motor • Test tube support
• Test tube • Thermometer • Solar cell support
• Magnifying glass • Thread • Cut-out sheet
• Colored filters • Rubber bands discs, birds, airplane
• Plastic rings • Paper fasteners • Solar cell and wires
Adult supervision
is required for
this activity.
INTRODUCTION
IMPORTANT: Be very careful when
working in bright sunlight. Always
wear sunglasses. Avoid looking directly
at the sun or at a concentrated image
of the sun, as this can damage your
eyes. Activities involving the sun are
indicated with the following icon:
IMPORTANT: Activities with sharp
points or edges should be completed
under the direct supervision of an
adult. These activities are indicated
by the following icon:
Sun Warning!
Some Facts About Solar Energy
The sun is a great source of energy, and because its energy is non-polluting
and inexhaustible, for over two centuries man has been trying to harness it
for technological purposes. In fact, in only one day our planet receives from
the sun about 200,000 times the energy generated by all the earth’s electrical
generating plants combined.
And yet, most of the energy we use today is derived from fossil fuels such
as oil, gas, or coal—energy sources that will not last forever. The only other
reliable sources of energy we have found to meet our future needs are
hydroelectric, nuclear, and . . . solar power.
We can capture solar energy both directly and indirectly; directly through
fluids heated in solar collectors and by photovoltaic cells that convert
sunlight into electricity; indirectly through energy captured by photosynthesis
which is stored in plant tissues. Plant tissue can be burned to provide heat or
can be converted into alcohol fuels. For example, in the United States during
the 1980s, wood fuel provided more energy than nuclear power. Even today,
many developing countries use wood as their main source of energy.
3
ACTIVITY 1
4
Place the thermometer on
the window sill.
Record the temperature.
1
Equipment:
• thermometer
• mirror
• card
Note:
The mirror in your kit is protected
with a thin covering.
Peel this off before use.
3
Now hold your mirror so that the
sun’s rays are reflected from the
mirror onto the thermometer tube.
Take a new reading after several
minutes.
What’s the difference?
2
Keep the thermometer on the
window sill.
Place a card against the window
so that it prevents the sun’s rays
from reaching the thermometer.
Once more, record the
temperature reading.
Note:
The temperature should now be
nearly the same as when it was
directly in the sun.
How Much Heat Do
You Get from the
Sun in Your Room?
Sun Warning!
ACTIVITY 2
5
1
2
3
4
5
Equipment:
• 2 glass bowls
• 1 transparent saucer
• thermometer
• water
The Sun Heats Water.
Put the same amount
of cold water into
two glass bowls.
Without moving the bowls, measure
the temperature of the water in both
of them and make a note of it.
Cover one of the bowls
with a transparent saucer
or piece of clear glass.
Wait about an hour and
remove the saucer.
Measure the temperature
in each bowl.
What did you discover?
Place them in the sunlight.
Note:
You will find that there was a rise in temperature in both cases.
The water in each bowl is now warmer than it was before,
but the water is even warmer in the bowl that was covered.
This is what is known as the greenhouse effect.
Sun Warning!
ACTIVITY 3
6
1
2 3
Equipment:
• 2 glasses
• white paper
• black paper
• thermometer
• water
White in the Sun
Place two glasses
partially and equally filled
with cold water in sunlight.
Measure the
temperature
of the water
in each glass.
Wait half an hour and again
measure the temperature
of the water in each glass.
What’s the difference?
How can this difference
be explained?
Wrap one glass
with a sheet of
white paper and
the other with
a sheet of black
paper.
Explanation:
The water in the glass covered with black paper will absorb heat
radiation and will be warmer than the one covered with white paper.
Perhaps it will be easier for you to understand now why people wear
light-colored clothing in summer and why heat absorbers are black.
4
Sun Warning!
ACTIVITY 4
7
Equipment:
• glass
• white paper
• water
The Spectrum
Fill a glass full of water
and place it on a brightly lit
window sill on a sunny day.
The glass should extend a bit
over the inside edge of the sill.
Now place a large piece
of white paper on the floor
directly below the glass.
Observe the spectrum
appear!
1
2
Note:
The success of this experiment
depends on certain specific
conditions of the sun.
Try this at various times of the
day in order to catch the sun
at different heights in the sky.
ACTIVITY 5
8
Find a clear casserole dish or
Pyrex
®
dish that can be heated.
3
Remove the cartridge.
Using a pair of scissors, cut off
a few pieces of this cartridge.
2
1
Equipment:
• clear casserole dish or Pyrex
®
dish
• dried up felt-tipped pen
• scissors
• electric hot plate
Weather in a Casserole Dish
Take a dried-up felt-tipped pen.
Open it by breaking it or by
cutting it.
Notice the cartridge inside.
When talking about solar energy, it is
important to remember how the sun
influences the air around us.
The sun heats the air, causing it to rise.
The air descends as it cools, and this is
what is responsible for the weather.
Here is an experiment where you should
be able to see how this happens.
Fill the dish with water.
Place it on top of an unplugged
electric hot plate or an unlighted
burner on your stove.
4
Adult supervision
is required for
this activity.
9
Use your hot plate or stove burner to carefully warm the water
in the casserole dish at low heat and see what happens.
The colored bands demonstrate how hot air rises in the atmosphere
and cool air sinks.
This demonstrates how winds and cyclones are produced.
A similar pattern of
circulation between
hot and cold areas
in the atmosphere
causes Earth’s wind
and storms.
Take one segment from the ink cartridge
and place it into the middle of the
casserole dish. It should sink.
If it floats, hold it under the water.
Watch the tiny air bubbles rising
from the segment as it absorbs water.
After a short time, the cartridge
will sink.
Wait a few minutes and you will see the
ink emerge from the cartridge segment.
As yet, the ink does not mix with the water.
It first makes two colored pools below the
water’s surface.
5
6
7
ACTIVITY 6
10
Hold your magnifying lens
over any letter E in
this manual.
Increase the height of the lens
over the letter E. The letter grows
and grows until a point
is reached where the
image seems to
become blurred.
Try focusing the light of a table lamp
through the lens onto a sheet of paper.
You will see the focal point. Find the
exact focal length by measuring the
distance between the lens and its
focal point.
1
2
3
Equipment:
• magnifying glass
• table lamp
• sheet of paper
Note:
The magnifying glass enclosed
in your kit is a double convex
converging lens.
A Scientific Explanation of a Magnifying Glass
Explanation:
All parallel light rays striking your
lens on one side will meet at a
single point about 1w" (40 mm)
away from the other side of the
lens. This single point is the focal
point of the lens.
The distance between the lens
and its focal point is the focal
length. The letter E you were
examining became blurry exactly
when you passed the focal length.
ACTIVITY 7
11
1
Equipment:
• magnifying glass
• fluorescent light
• white paper
Converging Light Rays
Reflect the light from a
fluorescent light through
your lens onto a sheet of
white paper.
What do you see?
Explanation:
A converging lens focuses all the
light rays received on its surface to
a considerably smaller area than the
area of the light source.
The clear and reduced image of the
fluorescent light that appears on
the paper helps you visualize this
relationship.
Concentrated energy
As you have already learned, all of the
energy striking a converging lens will
meet at a single point.
This is true for light rays, as you have
seen in this activity and in the previous
one. It is also true for heat waves, as
you will see in the next activity.
ACTIVITY 8
12
1
2
Equipment:
• magnifying glass
• thermometer
• candle
• water
Maximum Temperature
Take your lens outside
to bright sunlight.
Place a bit of candle wax at the focal
point of the lens. What happens?
Explanation:
If the candle melted, you can be sure
that it reached the temperature of
129°F (54°C) or more because 129°F
(54°C) is the melting point of the wax.
Explanation:
The boiling point of water is
210°F (100°C).
If you succeeded in boiling the
water, then you at least reached
that temperature.
Now try this:
Look up the melting and boiling points of various household items in a chemistry
book or encyclopedia. This will be helpful if you choose other materials to work with.
Expose these items to “concentrated” sunlight and try to determine the highest
temperature you can achieve with your lens.
Since the sun is the source of heat in this activity, the amount of available heat will
vary and so will your results.
The hour of the day, the season of the year, the weather, and the location on Earth,
are a few of the factors which can influence the results.
See if you can boil water in sunlight.
Place a drop of water at the focal
point of the lens. What happens?
Sun Warning!
ACTIVITY 9
13
1
Equipment:
• mirror
Left – Right
Stand in front of a mirror and scratch
your right ear with your right hand.
What do you discover?
The sun’s energy is often focused and
reflected to harness its power.
Explanation:
Mirror images are laterally inverted, they
transpose right with left and left with right.
This is the reason why you appeared to be
scratching your left ear with your left hand
when you looked at yourself in the mirror.
ACTIVITY 10
14
1
2
Equipment:
• mirror
• soup spoon
Convex Mirror
Take the mirror from the kit
and hold it in your hands.
Bend the mirror outwards.
Look at your reflection in the mirror.
What do you see?
Explanation:
An outward-bulging reflecting
surface is called a convex mirror.
A convex mirror reduces the size
of the reflected image.
Now try this:
You can also see this phenomenon
by examining the outward curving,
back surface of a shiny soup spoon.
ACTIVITY 11
15
Again, take the mirror
from the kit and hold it
in your hands.
1
Bend the mirror inwards,
towards you.
Look at your reflection
in the mirror.
What do you see?
What happened to
your reflection?
2
Equipment:
• mirror
• soup spoon
Concave Mirror
Explanation:
An inward-bulging reflecting surface
is called a concave mirror.
A concave mirror reduces and inverts
the image of the object if it is not
close to its surface.
Now try this:
You can also see this phenomenon by
examining the inward-bulging, inner
surface of a shiny soup spoon.
ACTIVITY 12
16
Place the cardboard solar furnace support, with the colored
side down, on a flat table.
1
Fold each end of the cardboard towards the middle so that the two
small round holes are directly above one another.
Insert the paper fastener, from the top down, through the two small holes.
2
This support can hold the parabolic reflector in four different positions.
In the next activity you will learn how to place the parabolic reflector
in the most convenient position.
3
Equipment:
• parabolic reflector
• solar furnace support (cardboard)
• paper fasteners
Assembling the Solar Furnace
ACTIVITY 13
17
Go outside and find a sunny spot for your solar furnace.
Place the parabolic reflector in the position that reflects the greatest
amount of the sun’s rays.
Move the palm of your hand in front of the reflector, about 4" (10 cm)
away from it, searching for the focal point.
Once you find it, keep your hand still for few minutes and you will feel
the concentrated heat.
1
Equipment:
• solar furnace
The purpose of a solar furnace is to concentrate the sun’s rays into a small
area and increase its heat output to a level where it becomes useful to us.
The key to your solar furnace is its spherical parabolic mirror which reflects
parallel light rays to a single point. This single point is its focal point.
How Does a Solar Furnace Work?
Sun Warning!
ACTIVITY 14
18
Place the cardboard test tube
support, with the colored side
down, on a flat table.
1
Fold the shortest end of the
cardboard towards the middle
so that the two small round
holes are directly above one
another.
Insert the paper fastener, from
the top down, through these
two small holes.
2
Insert the ends of the test tube holder into the pair of holes
on the cardboard, and then move it down, as shown.
Place the test tube into the round space on the test
tube holder. You have assembled your test tube stand.
3
Equipment:
• test tube
• test tube support (cardboard)
• test tube holder (metal wire piece)
• paper fastener
N
Assembling the Test Tube Stand
Note:
You can move the
test tube holder in
the support until
you find the best
position for it to
absorb the sun’s
rays from the
parabolic reflector.
ACTIVITY 15
19
Explanation:
You will achieve the best results if you work with the solar furnace when the sun is directly
overhead. This is due to the fact that the sun’s rays are strongest when they strike the
earth at an angle of 90°.
The wind, or even a breeze, will affect this activity; it will cool what you are trying to heat.
On a cloudy day, you will not be able to work with the solar furnace.
Place a drop of
clean water in
the test tube.
Put the test tube
into its stand.
1
Place the solar furnace
in direct sunlight.
Choose the best position
for the parabolic reflector.
2
3
Equipment:
• test tube
• test tube stand
• solar furnace
• water
Boiling Water
Place the test tube stand
in front of the furnace.
Move the test tube holder up or
down until you are sure that the
water in the test tube is at the
focal point of the reflector.
How long does it take for the
water to boil?
Sun Warning!
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
Page is loading ...
/
