What's the BIG Idea | Activity kit 5

MATH & SCIENCE LITERACY CONNECTIONS

book lists programs research standards resources BIG idea kits and more kits

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

This kit is part of the What's The BIG Idea? series and contains:

- a flashlight with batteries

- instructional manual

Bear Shadowby Frank Asch

Shadows by Carolyn B. Otto

What do young children learn when they explore shadows?

They learn about light and shadow relationships.
They experiment with different objects to make shadow shapes.
They recognize the relationship between light, objects and shadows.
They estimate and predict how long shadows will be and what shapes they will have.

The goal of this What’s the BIG Idea? kit:

To investigate the relationships among all the factors producing shadows. To observe the patterns and relationships found in the production of shadows.

$27.99

Download a PDF of a free sample activity

Investigating shadows is a great way to introduce young children to the idea of relationships—how one thing can influence another thing or cause something to happen. In addition, the study of outdoor shadows over time shows children a natural pattern of the traverse of the sun from day to day and the resulting pattern of shadows.

Young children are fascinated by the shadows they make whenever they pass in front of a light source. Light, both natural and artificial, travels in a straight line (most of the time) from its source (the sun, a candle flame, a flashlight).

The darkest shadows are caused when light is blocked completely by an object in its path. We call an object that blocks light completely an opaque object. Some objects are translucent (such as waxed paper) and block some of the light. These objects still have shadows but the shadows are lighter. An object that allows all the light to pass through it, and thus has no shadow, is called transparent (like a piece of glass).

Creating shadows with a flashlight is an excellent way for children to explore how changing the angle of a flashlight (cause) can change the length and shape of a shadow (effect). Children can describe the relationships they uncover between the position of a light source and the size and shape of the shadow produced.

The shape of a shadow is also related to the shape of the object casting the shadow. A child holding five fingers up in a beam of light being projected toward a wall will cause a shadow with five fingers. Of course, if the child holds her hand up with the edge of her hand towards the light, she will not see the five fingers. There are other relationships a child can begin to notice, including the differences in a shadow that relate to the distances between the light source and the surface on which the shadow falls.

The size, shape, and placement of outdoor shadows also change over time in a regular, predictable pattern, based on the daily apparent movement of the sun across the sky. For example, they may notice that their shadows change, depending on the time of day.

Patterns and Relationships Everywhere >

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0514746. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.