Each group needs the following items to make a heated water storage tank:

• Water container large enough to hold at least 1 liter (.22 gal), such as a plastic container (easier to cut) or coffee can
• Cardboard box, sized so it is about 1-inch (2.5 cm) bigger than the water container on all sides
• Insulation material (such as Styrofoam pellets, cotton or crumpled newspaper)
• 2 feet (61 cm) of plastic tubing (3/8-inch inside diameter, ½-inch outside diameter)

Each group needs the following items to make a solar collector:

• Cardboard box with transparent cover (4-inch deep box, ~12 x 12-inch, or 30 x 30 cm) with a transparent cover (sized to match box area dimensions) made from rigid clear plastic, saran wrap or other thin and transparent plastic material) or a disposable baking sheet pan, 9-inches x 13-inches x 2-inches deep (23 x 33 x 5 cm), that comes with a fitted clear plastic cover
• Insulation material (such as Styrofoam pellets, cotton or crumpled newspaper)
• Cardboard piece, same size as floor area of cardboard box or sheet pan
• 3 feet (91 cm) soft copper tubing (3/8-inch outside diameter; available at hardware stores)

Each group needs:

• Stopwatch (or a watch or timer to keep track of the passage of time up to 20 minutes)
• 4 Styrofoam cups (any size, but matching sizes so easy to double up for insulating purposes)
• Solar Water Heater Design and Analysis Worksheet, one per team

For the entire class to share:

• Scissors, to cut plastic and cardboard
• Packing or duct tape, and stapler, to make/modify cardboard boxes
• Drill (optional), to make a hole in a metal container; bit sized to create hole for plastic tubing
• Waterproof glue, such as epoxy or gorilla glue
• Aluminum foil, to line inside walls and base of solar collector
• Black spray paint
• String or twine, to tape to coiled copper tubing to help with measuring
• Copper tubing bender tool (see Figure 4; if not available, have students use a rigid cylindrical surface to bend the tubing around)
• Copper tubing cutter (see Figure 4; inexpensive and available at hardware stores) or a hack saw (cuts are not as clean)
• Hammer (optional), to hammer out kinks in the copper tubing
• Jug, to carry water outside
• 1 liter measuring cup