Pizza box solar oven Follow FizzicsEd 150 Science Experiments: Comments 2 You will need: One cardboard pizza box Aluminium foil Clear kitchen Plastic wrap One wooden Kebab Stick Black plastic garbage bag Scissors Sticky tape Glue A box cutter may be useful, but only use one if you have the help of an adult Thermometer Chocolate, or butter Written by Fizzics Education. Reviewed by Ben Newsome CF. Cite this experiment Copyright Notice Instruction 1 Using the box cutters, and the help of an adult, carefully cut a ‘U-shape’ into the top lid of the pizza box so that you have a flap that can be bent upwards when the pizza box is closed. 2 “Wrapped Aluminium foil around the pizza box solar oven lid” Cut out a sheet of Aluminium foil so that it is larger than the cardboard flap you have made in step one. Wrap this Aluminium foil around the inner side of this flap so that it faces downward into the pizza box. Use the tape to secure the foil. The foil will be your mirror to reflect the sunlight. 3 “Inside the pizza box solar oven; here we have used black cardboard for the base” Fold the black plastic garbage bag into a square and glue this onto the base of the interior of the pizza box. If you have black cardboard this can work as well. 4 “Top lid covered in foil with clear plastic film across window opening” Another option is to simply coat the entire inside of the pizza box with the black garbage bag. In fact, this would make a good variable test with your students. Which design performs better? Place clear plastic kitchen film across the opening of the top lid and secure this with tape. 5 “Kebab stick supporting pizza box solar oven lid: note tape loop on lid for adjustments” Use the wooden kebab stick to support the Aluminium covered top lid flap by pushing it into the pizza box and the lid. It can be handy to create a loop of sticky tape off the edge of the top lid flap as that way you can use this as way of adjusting the angle of the lid, this is great for changing the angle of the ‘mirror,’ as the sun moves. 6 “Pizza box solar oven at window” You’re done! Put the thermometer on the black plastic square and a take an initial temperature reading. Place the pizza box oven in a sunny position and take readings of the temperature within the pizza box at set times. How hot does it get inside? 7 “Pizza box solar ovens made by students in the Sun” Try to cook something! We like melting chocolate squares on top of crackers, with a marshmallow, making a smore. Another alternative is to put a bit of butter on a plate and see how long it takes to melt. Enjoy 🙂 8 Go further – buy 5 x student activity sheets as extension worksheets. This student science booklet has been created by experienced science educators from the Fizzics Education team. Use these student worksheets as blackline masters for your science class! See all student sheets here 9 School science visits since 2004! – Curriculum-linked & award-winning incursions. – Over 40 primary & high school programs to choose from. – Designed by experienced educators. – Over 2 million students reached. – Face to face incursions & online programs available. – Early learning centre visits too! 10 Online courses for teachers & parents – Help students learn how science really works 11 Get the Unit of Work on Heat Energy here! What actually is heat? How does heat move through different materials? How does heat change the properties of materials and more! Includes cross-curricular teaching ideas, student quizzes, a sample marking rubric, scope & sequences & more Why Does This Happen? How a Pizza Box Solar Oven Works Solar ovens work by trapping radiant heat energy from the Sun. In this experiment, you used the reflective Aluminium foil flap to direct sunlight through the clear plastic film. Once that light energy is inside the pizza box, the black plastic garbage bag absorbs it, converting the light into thermal energy (heat). This creates a miniature Greenhouse Effect. The plastic film allows short-wave solar radiation to pass through easily, but it blocks the long-wave infrared heat from radiating back out. This causes the air temperature within the pizza box to rise significantly. For best results, you would have found that you need to move the box slightly to compensate for the Sun’s position changes as our Earth spins. You could also further insulate the outside of the pizza box to avoid heat loss from conduction into the ground. Application Solar ovens have been around for a long time; in fact, you can even buy commercial solar cookers from boutique suppliers! The best solar cookers are designed to concentrate the Sun’s radiant heat into a dark area to absorb as much energy as possible, while being heavily insulated to avoid heat loss. Solar cookers are still vital in modern times, especially in areas where people don’t have ready access to electricity, wood, or gas. There has also been a revival of this technology as a response to environmental concerns regarding greenhouse gas emissions. They make great camping gear, though in cooler or very cloudy environments, you’ll have a much more difficult time reaching cooking temperatures! Classroom activity sheets Create, reflect & extend with these student resources! ✅ Reviewed: April 5, 2026 APA 7 Citation: Fizzics Education. (2018). Pizza box solar oven. https://www.fizzicseducation.com.au/150-science-experiments/heat-experiments/pizza-box-solar-oven-2/ Copy APA Citation Reviewer This resource was last reviewed for scientific accuracy on April 5, 2026. Ben Newsome CF is the recipient of the 2023 UTS Chancellor’s Award for Excellence and a Churchill Fellow. He is a global leader in science communication and the founder of Fizzics Education. Learn more! From liquid nitrogen shows to hot & cold workshops, we’ve got your unit on properties of materials covered! Get in touch with FizzicsEd to find out how we can work with your class. Renewable Energy Years 3 to 6 Maximum 30 students Workshop (NSW & VIC) 60 or 90 minutes Online Class Available Read More Enquire Now STEM Full Day Accelerator - Primary Designed from real classroom experiences, this modular day helps you create consistently effective science learning that directly address the new curriculum with easily accessible and cost-effective materials. Read More Enquire Now Be Amazing! How to teach science, the way primary kids love. $29.95 excl. GST View Details Add to Cart Trustpilot Hands-on Kids Science Party >20 hands on science experiments Gigantic bubbles Slime making Professional science show From $395 inc. GST Read More
Using the box cutters, and the help of an adult, carefully cut a ‘U-shape’ into the top lid of the pizza box so that you have a flap that can be bent upwards when the pizza box is closed.
“Wrapped Aluminium foil around the pizza box solar oven lid” Cut out a sheet of Aluminium foil so that it is larger than the cardboard flap you have made in step one. Wrap this Aluminium foil around the inner side of this flap so that it faces downward into the pizza box. Use the tape to secure the foil. The foil will be your mirror to reflect the sunlight.
“Inside the pizza box solar oven; here we have used black cardboard for the base” Fold the black plastic garbage bag into a square and glue this onto the base of the interior of the pizza box. If you have black cardboard this can work as well.
“Top lid covered in foil with clear plastic film across window opening” Another option is to simply coat the entire inside of the pizza box with the black garbage bag. In fact, this would make a good variable test with your students. Which design performs better? Place clear plastic kitchen film across the opening of the top lid and secure this with tape.
“Kebab stick supporting pizza box solar oven lid: note tape loop on lid for adjustments” Use the wooden kebab stick to support the Aluminium covered top lid flap by pushing it into the pizza box and the lid. It can be handy to create a loop of sticky tape off the edge of the top lid flap as that way you can use this as way of adjusting the angle of the lid, this is great for changing the angle of the ‘mirror,’ as the sun moves.
“Pizza box solar oven at window” You’re done! Put the thermometer on the black plastic square and a take an initial temperature reading. Place the pizza box oven in a sunny position and take readings of the temperature within the pizza box at set times. How hot does it get inside?
“Pizza box solar ovens made by students in the Sun” Try to cook something! We like melting chocolate squares on top of crackers, with a marshmallow, making a smore. Another alternative is to put a bit of butter on a plate and see how long it takes to melt. Enjoy 🙂
Go further – buy 5 x student activity sheets as extension worksheets. This student science booklet has been created by experienced science educators from the Fizzics Education team. Use these student worksheets as blackline masters for your science class! See all student sheets here
School science visits since 2004! – Curriculum-linked & award-winning incursions. – Over 40 primary & high school programs to choose from. – Designed by experienced educators. – Over 2 million students reached. – Face to face incursions & online programs available. – Early learning centre visits too!
Get the Unit of Work on Heat Energy here! What actually is heat? How does heat move through different materials? How does heat change the properties of materials and more! Includes cross-curricular teaching ideas, student quizzes, a sample marking rubric, scope & sequences & more
From liquid nitrogen shows to hot & cold workshops, we’ve got your unit on properties of materials covered! Get in touch with FizzicsEd to find out how we can work with your class.
Renewable Energy Years 3 to 6 Maximum 30 students Workshop (NSW & VIC) 60 or 90 minutes Online Class Available Read More Enquire Now
STEM Full Day Accelerator - Primary Designed from real classroom experiences, this modular day helps you create consistently effective science learning that directly address the new curriculum with easily accessible and cost-effective materials. Read More Enquire Now
Designed from real classroom experiences, this modular day helps you create consistently effective science learning that directly address the new curriculum with easily accessible and cost-effective materials.
Be Amazing! How to teach science, the way primary kids love. $29.95 excl. GST View Details Add to Cart Trustpilot
Hands-on Kids Science Party >20 hands on science experiments Gigantic bubbles Slime making Professional science show From $395 inc. GST Read More
>20 hands on science experiments Gigantic bubbles Slime making Professional science show From $395 inc. GST
Very cool. It really works and we cooked pizza’s in it. It took a bit of time but we got there. Awesome. Portable so you can take on camping trips as like an oven Reply
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