This simple project makes an ample feeder for serving a flock of seed eaters.
Ac tually it is quite workable.
In one case something like this was shown to reffuges in a camp in Africa. One tribal group that seemed impervious to new ideas tried it and soon started taking courses in other subjects.
Do a GOOGLE search on Solar Cookers, Solar Stoves, ect.
Another good source “Fun With the Sun” by D. S. Hallacy.
Simple cookers can be made from three reflector panels (like two walls and a floor), a dark colored glass jar with lid (to hold the food) and a plastic roasting bag. The three panels form a two walls, corner and floor structure. Put the food in the jar and add water to cover and close the jar. Put the jar in the bag. Put the bag in the reflector corner. Inflate the bag slightly and tie it shut. The bag helps to trap hot air around the jar.
I have heard a rumor that if you lay a closed one liter pop bottle half full of water in the sun for six hours the water will get hot enough to kill microorganisms. I would advise against testing this method but try to see how hot the water can get as a Science Fair project.
This is a neat thing! Great for when you can’t get a fire started!
i can melt a candy bar in my pocket, what if i want a hamburger, or cook up some road kill? bogus.
I’m gonna get food poison and suit the magasine. The real American Way!
I think it is a great idea and it sounds lightweight.
I thought it was great!! By the way, I don’t want to sound rude or anything, but for those who asked “how does it get the heat?” the answer is the following: Light energy in the form of photons hits the black construction paper. The black construction paper absorbs the light energy, turning it into heat. The aluminum is apparently for centering more light onto the paper, therefore creating more heat.
i wish we did this in Girl Scout camp, but we only did the “Dutch Oven.”
can you make briscuits,pizza,steak,fish,hambergers and other stuff??
write back
its a great idea accept if the wind blows can you cook steak??
I have’it done it but it sounds cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a way to cook without using the stove, this is really cool or hot depending on how you look at it.
i want to tri it!!! this is my 1st time onthe website i love most(after 5 minutes)!!!;)
it’s not actrually solar powered. it’s powered by heat energy
sorry about sounding so mean but i watch the science channel for fun
There is also a way to make biscuits like this. Take a regular box and cover all sides with aluminum foil and tape it in. Take old wire coat hangers and punch them through, about three of the long ends to hold a pie plate. You fill another pie plate with coals from your fire and put the biscuits on the other pie plate above the coals, resting on the coat hangers. close the box and let them cook. They are great. You must make sure the whole inside of the box is coated in foil or else it will burn through. This happened the first time my patrol and I tried it, but the biscuits were still great. We laugh about it all the time now!
Hey, Tumten the black paper absorbs the heat with reflection of the aluminum foil. It also sounds really COOOOOOOOOL.
Awsome! I have tried many things like this but, this is the best i have ever seen! It is truly wonderful and is useful and a cheap way to cook. MY RATING: 5 stars
i have’nt used it yet but i can’t wat {;its cool;maybe;}
I’ve got a camping trip to go to, so this [i]might[/i] be of use!
This is sweet, when I get home I am doing this I hope to here more cool stuff like this. I’v been reading the magizene for 6 years and I just now got to the website
I started my marshmallow on fire! That thing is hot! (pun intended)
You don’t need four burners and a gas line to make some great-tasting trail food.
Those are great ideas! Anything to help protect the earth!
one day the earth will be coverd in all liter if we do not take care of it.
People who care about the environment are no longer hippies, we are people who don’t want to live in smog everyday of our lives or see beauitful animals go exctient.
All the papers I mess up writing on, I could recycle. That way it could be turned into clean paper. Somthing nobody should do is through recyclable things in the lake. Me (Luv2juggle#2) and my dad (Luv2juggle#1) go to our lake, Lake Winnipasakee and go to a small swamp, and do a small clean sweep.
We can do all sorts of thing to help the ENVIRONMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We all can buy safe plastics & the way you can is by 1,2,3,4,5,6 & 7.
You know those recycling symbols on bottom of your plastics like: (1) is safe. It some times has PETE on it. It also is recyclable. (2) is also safe & recyclable. this is
called HDPE (3) is not safe or recyclable same with (6). Now (3) is VINYL or PVC. Those plastic particles rub off on your LUNCH!!!! Ya, thats RIGHT, your colored material (not metal or paper),handle lunch bag.there (3). (6) doesn’t rub on your lunch. (4) & (5)
safe & recyclable & last (7). (7) is questionable. they’re is two kinds: PC is not recyclable but it’s questionable. PLA is safe but not recyclable. It can be used for compost.
yeah
“GIVE EM WATTS”… the vikings called “Greenland” that because they wanted to confuse people into going there instead of “Iceland”, which was actually a paradise
get your facts straight
but Global Warming is a serious problem
i’m glad this section of BL was created because it was necessary
We have had globel warming for a long time. You know what i say,”Cross your fingers or fight globel warming”. Its obvious what you should do.
global warming is not the problem, the earth goes through phases that
happen every two or three thousand years. do you know why they called
“greenland”green? two thousand years ago,IT WAS GREEN!!!!
do you know iceland was called “iceland”? two thousand years ago,
IT WAS ICE!!!!!!!
The ventilation of most houses goes through the attic. So if you put too much insulation in the attic, you could block the movement of moisture in and out of the house. The previous owners of our house did that and caused black mold to grow all along the ceiling. The moisture from the warm air condensed on the colder ceiling. And black mold is not good to have in the house. We had to remove some insulation and spread it around. Also we had to drill holes in the eaves for air to circulate. So simply putting in more attic insulation is not the answer.
We should all buy an extra multi-pack of CFL bulbs and give them to the poor or the elderly, and/or donate a multi-pack to our churches for distribution. Because of the high initial cost for CFL bulbs the poor/elderly (those who would benefit the most) are least likely to use them. In addition to using one-fourth of the electricity of regular bulbs they last ten times longer so you aren’t always having to replace them. I have replaced all the bulbs in both of my grandparents’ houses because I knew that they would not do so on their own. Another big help is to increase the insulation in our attics. I understand that attic insulation and CFL bulbs are one of the fastest ways to save money. For car-related energy and enviromental savings, regular tuneups and proper amounts of air in the tires are key.
I ride my bike to school every day I can. I live 4 miles away, and it takes me 20 minutes.
There are also a lot of scientists who think the earth is starting to cool down. Hence, a lot of people sported the term “Climate Change” when they use “climate change” who knows if they think it’s cooling down or warming up? A lot of people(not Boys Life) use “climate change” VERY often. So if earth cools or warms they’re correct, showing they don’t know what is going to happen in the future.
After campouts, clean everything up. Even the stuff that was there before you came.
and when yu do use paper
RECYCLE!!!!
this is a huge problem and i think we should all try to help
Save the world dont use paper products unless you have to.
I think this a big issue and i want to be apart of the solution!!!
I will now try to do anything on this list to save the World!!!!!
We are all part of the problem. Here are some easy things you can do to be a part of the solution.
Do you need a clear bottle, or could I use a green one from like 7UP?
I had my kids do this at our last den meeting, and my son’s seeds are sprouting beautifully! We couldn’t punch holes in the lids, so we just loosened them, and it seems to be working nicely. We used Juicy Juice bottles. So, we’re reusing materials while earning our World Conservation Badges! This was a great, simple project that we can do over and over again.
this is the best project and my mom isnt screaming at me this time thank you
Awesome IM DOING A SCIENCE PROJECT AND THIS IS PERFECT! THANK YOU
i am trying it right it right now. i think it will work good
Gengen
beleive it or not but that is not sweat it is a raincloud. This makes a tiny ecosystem I learned that in biology A
im gunna try it on saturday and if it works ill grow trees and everything with it!
Sounds cool and i believe it. I have tried tried something similar to this and it worked very well.
Sounds cool and i believe it. I have tried something similar to this and it worked very well.
do not believe a word of it ….. what kind of seed? I want a tree seed??
You don’t have to wait for the right season to plant your flower and vegetable seeds. Grow plants indoors any time of year with this easy project.
when you get your box done how do you get the bats to come to your box thankyou
MY MOM HATES BATS SO I’M NOT ALLOWED TO BUILD ONE. WHAT DO I DO?
the next time she gets a mosquito bite, or squeals about a flying bug she sees, tell her that one little bat can eat up to 1200 mosquitoes in an hour- and they also eat all kinds of other bugs! A bat house in your yard will keep the whole area mosquito and bug free- try that!
To batman, you should use plywood.
S.(sucsess) T. (tip) Stain the boards with black stain before asembly.
Me and my dad built a huge one with 4 layers!! We call it “Bat Condo.”
hi i built a bathouse using some old boards off my barn.i simply staggered three planks about 1/2 apart giving me 6 slats for the bats.after 2 weeks i checked inside and there had to be at least 20 bats in there!!cost to construct…………zero!!
Great instructions…maybe a photo of the completed project!
its way more easy to glue some wooden skewers to the backboard than to try to roughen it up or attach plastic [that could potentially catch and choke a bat]. works just as well, even easyer for the bats to grab onto.
Cool site. I thought you might like to have add a link about bat house plans for even bigger houses since those tend to work better. My site just happens to provide suck plans. Here’s the info:
Scott’s Bat House Plan Page
http://habitat.ms11.net/bat/bathome.htm
Good Luck,
Scott
–
Scott’s Backyard Habitat Enhancement
like to see other bat houses with instructions like three chambered
Use these plans to create a mini-habitat for some of North America's most misunderstood—yet valuable—creatures.
..I am sooo psyched!! I love to fish and camp; and always need worms. So this is such a cool idea, as well as profitable. Now all I need is someone to get my fish off the hook!!Ha! Ha!
I had three worm beds, open ground with frames, all flooded. I have to try to think this over and decide what will be better. Perhaps the concrete around the frame with no breaks will stop the water rush from Texas storms.
Candin
built mine using a large black container that was used for cow protien. I drilled a hole in the bottom and covered it with screeen. It is hot here in Texas so I pour a pitcher of cold water on them every other day. They seem to be doing ok!
First for poor ol Sparky..Most worms hang at @ 18″ deepths well within the authors 36″. like the gardners I’m in it for da poop. What I grow loves it and needs the natural “pest controll” Best organic I can raise for my self. Any overage of worms don’t have too escape I give them their freedom willingly, in my yard and flower beds. Go green baby!
My family has a worm bed we use the worms for fishing and composting. 
I dug a worm bed & used tin sheets for the side, do you think that it would be ok to use the tin for the bottom to or not nessasery The hole is about 6 foot wideby 6 foot long by about 2 & a half foot deep,& also does it matter what type of dirt you use
definatly going to try,i live near lakes and people need worms as bait
try feeding your worms a mixture of protein powder that you get at any health food store and whole grain wheat bread. it makes your worms BIG AND STRONG!!!
There are many boxes, this one really works. It has provided enough worms for the season and has been profitable. Thanks for the cool idea. The best thing is the profit makes it’s self. Word of mouth and just being at your local lakes at the right time of the day. Most people run out of worms around noon or 2pm. All I do is have plenty of worms to go around.
We have a much smaller version, I caulked a screen onto the bottom of a larger planter with pre-drilled holes. Filled it with a mixture of soil and peat moss to a little more than half full, then added both nite crawlers and red worms that I found while gardening. I place the planter inside a window well on the northeast side of the house which is very shady. I occasionally water & feed them small amounts of egg shells, coffee grounds, shredded paper, dried plants/leaves, whatever natural scraps I have. No cover on it. They multiply quickly and we always have our fishing bait. We release them (if there are any left) late fall as they would freeze in our Wisconsin winters.
Built 2 last year, Did wonderful, now I have 8 more making 10. Worms are 3.50 a box at the store, I get 2.00 a box and can’t keep up. Thanks a million……
I have found that as long as the worms are happy they stay, even without a bottom. Even so, I added a wire and screen bottom to mine.
Once again, Thank you……… )
this sounds like a great idea but i think waater will collect at the bottom!!!!
i think that you r right and that the worms will bring lots of money!!!
You could drill a hole in the bottom of it to let the water drain so they don’t drowned.
I’m a Master Gardender and working with 2 other MG’s helping some elementary students become gardeners in their own school yard. To create more interest, I’m going to feed this information to them so they can also build themselves a worm bed. They’ll love this! Thank you!
I think this is a wonderful idea, because sometimes I can’t aford bait AND gas money…lol
i am so gonna do this im gonna do this weekend cause one time i went to go buy worms from the dixie dairy bar there is sopposed to be 30 worms in there and there was only 5 worms in there i bought them with 50$—{} i got ripped off? didnt i.
The worm bed works well under a grape arbor or wisteria bush. They like the coolness and the air flows freely. Watch for snakes when you feed the worms and dig worms to sell. They like to lie beside the worm bed.
I know I spelled that wrong 
I have a few questions…
How can the worms crawl out? The sides are straight up and down arn’t they?
When it rains… won’t the water just collect in there and drown the worms?
If you know the answers to either of these PLEASE let me know.
Thanks!
This is great! I live near a lake and EVERYONE has a boat and goes fishing! Yes! This is JUST the kind of thing I need! Thank you!
next spring i will start collecting red worms the in the summer I will sell them
I’m fishing now and I’m tired of buying worms and then they die. I’m going to do this right now!
I think that i might want to do this over the summer using some stuff that my parents aren’t using. I might be able to sell at least ten worms to my dad.
has anyone every “called” worms?….take a stick (3 foot or so ) and carve notches about every 8″…place pointed end of “grunt stick” into ground, then begin furiously rubbing/clicking the notches with another stick,,,after 5-10 minutes go out 5-10 yds from where you are “grunting” and they should be up trying to wiggle away…they think it’s an armadillo or such from the vibrations, you may have to practice “grunting” for a while 1st, but this does work and if you’re outta bait at the lake etc. this beats running to the bait house
your little thing about worm beds SUCK what keeps them from digging through the bottom of the hole
the worms will hang around…you are feeding them, why would they leave??
An easier and cheaper version can be made by purchasing a rubber tote box about 1.5 x 3 feet. They run 3-7 dollars at any Target, Walmart, etc. With adult supervision use a sharp utility knife to cut 4 holes in both the bottom and lid about 1.5-2 inches in diameter glue with hot glue gun a square of screen mesh over the holes. The bottom holes allow for moisture to drain as green waist breaks down. The holes in the lid will allow for air flow and ventelation. You may need more vent holes and may even cut some in the sides of the bucket above the bedding line. Fill the tote half full of bedding and add worms. Add scraps to just on side and as the worms break them down level out the bedding. As the tote feels with casings (worm poop) and fills to about 3/4 full you will need to emptly worms and casings. Count out enough worms to restart a new bed. You can add new peat moss, some of the casings from the previous batch and a small amount of soil. Refill the tote to half of just under half full and start over. You can sell the extra worms to bait shops, and farmers will be happy to purchase the extra casings for the flower beds and gardens. One tip for helping drainage a few old bricks on the corners and in the middle to raise the bottom off the floor is best, the worms need to be a cool place so if you live in a hot area (we live in Arizona) moving the totes into the garage or under a covered cool porch is great. Also if you live in a cold climate, they will bury down in freezing weather but production slows greatly, so moving it to a warmer area such as the garage in the winter is good for these areas as well. In cold areas have extra totes ready so that you can thin out the worms in the first and build a stock pile of worms and casings to meet demand of spring when fisherman and gardners start their summer activity.
Have you ever wished you could dig money out of the ground? In a way you can. Raising worms in a small worm farm can make you extra money during the summer.
cool my mom has 3
I build bird house and feeders all the time and i sell a lot of them and its a fun thing to do for a hobby
Simple diagrams. I don’t get what you guys are mumbling about. Just pay attention to each detail and the diagrams are easy to read.
One problem is squirrels. When there are birds, there are squirrels. I would recommend waxing the pole or something so they can’t get up. When I was a little kid, I made a bird feeder in cub scouts, but the only thing that ate from there were squirrels. =/
Could you put in a picture of the final bird feeder?
suggest making the platform out of screening so that seeds will have a better chance of drying if they get wet
that will be the easy thing, but making a dollhouse for the birds will be the hard thing!
it would be great if there was a picture of the finished product so we can see what it should look like
Show the final picture for the feeder.
I Can’t Wait To Build It. I Have A Bird House, I’m Going To Put It Thare.
Tweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet
This is very easy and I have done it a couple times, I don’t even need adult help.
However, like other people said, the diagrams are confusing. I just don’t look at them and follow the directions, but now that I’m used to making bird houses, it’s not really hard. I would just go ahead and try it if this is your first time doing a birdhouse. If you’re anything like me, you’ll find that it’s really fun and doesn’t take that long!
very usefull for merit badges, but the diagram are too detailed
this is really good but maybe next time make it less confusing
this is a boring thing, i could build a house with 3 rooms in a day!!!!!!
It would be cool if you could make a bird house out of this!
You could also put a small plastic bowl full of water on your feeder, so the birds could drink and bathe in it.
This is a neat idea! ☺