Grade 9 students at Bonnyville Centralized High School (BCHS) will have the opportunity to explore alternative energy sources for cooking food thanks to a $3,500 grant from Inside Education’s A+ for Energy Grant Program. The project, titled “Cooking with the Sun,” will allow students to experiment with solar energy through hands-on learning.
BCHS teacher Jennifer Vermillion, who leads the project, shared her inspiration: “I’ve tried building solar ovens from pizza boxes before, but they couldn’t even cook a marshmallow. I thought it would be cool to have an industrial solar cooker to show the power of the sun.”
Vermillion and her students will test two types of solar cookers—one stationary and one portable. Together, they’ll compare how each operates under different weather conditions and temperatures, observe how long it takes to cook various foods, and anything else the students want to investigate.
“I really have no idea what results we are going to get,” Vermillion said. “I’ll be learning right alongside the students, and I hope to get other classes and possibly the environmental club involved as well.”
In addition to the solar cookers, Vermillion will use the grant funds to purchase wireless thermometers so students can monitor the cooking process from inside on colder days. She’s also exploring the possibility of acquiring an infrared camera to help students detect hot and cold spots on the cookers.
To celebrate the project’s conclusion, students will prepare a locally-sourced snack for the entire school. S’mores are the obvious choice, but there’s a chance they will discover a new favourite while conducting their experiments, Vermillion noted.
As part of the grant program, Vermillion also participated in a two-day professional development session in August. The session featured opportunities to collaborate with other teachers, expert presentations, and tours of a solar energy plant and a gas plant.
More Information: A+ for Energy Grant