Spira Day 4: Solar Panels & Solar Ovens

Week one of Spira is complete! This week we've focused on Environmental Engineering and the moral obligations engineers have especially concerning the environment. We kicked off the morning with a discussion about environmental justice and the social issues that environmental engineers have to take into consideration when brainstorming ways to improve the quality of life. Afterwards, we used the rest of the day to focus on the rise and use of solar energy and solar panels.

In the morning we took the girls on a tour of the solar panels at the Nelson Fitness Center on Brown's campus. We were able to meet with a mechanical engineer who spearheaded the installation of the solar panels. They were able to walk up to the roof and view the solar panels and learn about the mechanics behind them.

The afternoon followed with a couple of games outside before heading back in to continue our unit on using solar energy as source of power. This presentation was concluded with and activity in which campers in their groups made solar powered ovens! The girls got to use pizza boxes, aluminum foil, plastic wrap, and black construction paper to design and build their own solar powered ovens! Because of today's cloudy weather, we were unable to test the ovens so instead on Monday we will use the solar ovens to make s'mores! Week 1 was full of laughs, fun activities, and enlightening discussions! Can't wait to see how week 2 will unfold!