Teaching the teachers: Making solar science education fun and easy to teach

America is facing a quiet crisis in the scientific and technology fields. Elementary school teachers are required to teach outside their specialty area using outdated materials. Furthering this crisis, teachers don't have time to search for their own materials. These teachers need affordable instructional materials that are fun and easy to teach. Recognizing the importance of teaching science and technology in the classroom, the Arizona Department of Commerce Energy Office developed a Solar Energy Education Packet for Teachers. Also, an implementation workshop was developed to instruct teachers on how to use the materials in the packet. In this paper, we demonstrate the overwhelming acceptability of using solar cooking for teaching solar science principles and technology in the classroom. By taking a fun and inexpensive approach to teaching the solar science principles, we have created a program that has been embraced not only by teachers, but by students as well.