Author - Kirstie Lafferty
Category - Lesson Plans, Science, Time
Lesson Plan Duration - 55 minute(s)
Grade Level - K-2,esl

Lesson Plan Description

Students learn how shadows work and how they move by tracing around their own shadows over the period of a day.

Primary Learning Objective(s):


Additional Learning Objective(s):

Students will begin to get an understanding of how shadows can be used to tell time.

  • Verbally describe how shadows are formed – by an object blocking light.

Procedures/Activities:

SHADOWS AND TELLING TIME (to be conducted over two lessons and integrated into the Society and Environment and Mathematics Learning Areas)

My Shadow

Introduction: (10 mins)

Introduce and engage students by showing them a shadow puppet clip.

Focus Questions after viewing

  • What was happening in the video clip?
  • How were the images made?
  • What was needed to make the shadows?
  • How do shadows change?
  • How are shadows created?

 

When something blocks sunlight or light in general, a shadow is formed. Because the Sun moves across the sky throughout the day our shadows change in size and shape.

Body:

Explain to students that they are going to conduct an investigation to see what happens to shadows as time progresses.

Make a prediction – ask the students what they think will happen. Discuss as a class and get the students to draw on their worksheet what they think their shadows will look like at 3 intervals during the day.

9am, 12pm, 2.30pm

  • Ask students to work in pairs to trace around their shadows whilst in the “scarecrow” position.
  • Remind them to trace around their feet in different coloured chalk so they can return to the same position at the two following intervals.
  • Repeat the activity at the intervals of 12pm and 2.30pm
  • Label each shadow according to the time it was drawn
  • Discuss what happened to their shadows.

Focus Questions

  • What happened to the shadows?
  • Which direction did they move towards? (Encourage use of North, South, East, West vocab)
  • Why did this happen?
  • Whose prediction was correct?

 
Lesson to be completed in another session

Take photographs of the shadows to be printed and arranged in their Science Books with a describing sentence accompanying each.

Conclusion: (10 mins)

Conclude the lesson at the end of the day by taking the students out for a game of Shadow Chasey.

  • Students work in pairs to tag each others shadows.
  • Ensure students have their hats on and warn them against looking at the Sun because it can cause eye damage.
  • After each pair of shadows has had a turn, bring students back to class to be dismissed for the afternoon.

Materials/Equipment:


  • Coloured chalk
  • Open concrete area
  • Digital camera to record photos for evidence for Science Book.

Assessment Guidelines:

Observation and anecdotal notes of who answered questions in Intro and contributed to class discussion.

Work sample – marking of students predictions and drawings – Are predictions reasonable?

Observation and checklist of the traced shadows according to the following:

  • Chalk marked?
  • Different coloured chalk used?
  • Care has been taken?
  • Time recorded?