Early Science  /  Shadows  /  Digital Journals  /  Activity

Rotation Station

 

Shadows
Digital Journal

Children explore rotation and changing shadow shapes through hands-on experiences.

A teacher and three students are seated on the floor looking at two rotation maps, one with a pair of scissors and one with a ruler, both standing upright in Play-Doh. A teacher and a student are looking at a spot lit wall, in front of which is a rotation mat, with a pair of scissors standing upright in the center of the mat, stabilized in Play-Doh.

Choose objects that will show different shadow shapes when they are rotated.

Look at the round handles in the shape of the scissors’ shadow.

 

Materials

  • An object for each child that will cast different shadow shapes as it is rotated, such as a food container lid, a comb, a sticky pad, a roll of masking tape, a plastic fork, a ruler, a pair of preschool scissors
  • Large white cardboard sheet (or white tri-fold display board) to use as a shadow surface wall (1 for each Rotation Station)
  • LED flashlights (1 for each Rotation Station)
  • Mystery Shadows tool in the digital Shadows Journal on 1 iPad
  • Play dough, for making a base for each object
  • Rotation Station mats from the Shadows Changing Shape activity (1 mat for each pair or small group)

Preparation

  1. Stand each object upright in a play dough base.
  2. Use the Rotation Station Mats from the Shadows Changing Shape activity. (Or follow directions in that activity to create new mats.)
  3. Set up Rotation Stations. Place the mat, flashlight, and a white “shadow wall” so that the shadow of an object placed on each mat can be cast on a shadow wall.
  4. Darken the area where you will meet with your small groups, so that shadows made with flashlights can be clearly seen.
 

Directions: Lesson 9

Guided Small Group
  1. Provide each group (or pair of children) with a Rotation Station mat and an object in a play dough base. Have children place the object on the Rotation Station circle and explore making different shadow shapes by rotating their object.
  2. After some open exploration, give directions. Children can compare the shadow their object makes with the shadows their classmates are making with other objects. Possible discussion ideas:
    • Make the widest shadow you can make with your object.
    • Make the thinnest shadow you can make with your object.
    • Show the shadow that you think looks the most like your object. Why do you think that shadow looks most like the object?
  3. Let children exchange their object for a different one. Repeat the activity with the new object.
  4. Point out the shadow of a (round container lid). Ask a child to slowly rotate the lid, making the shadow become wider and thinner. Lead the group in chanting, Thinner, thinner, thinner . . . until the shadow becomes a thin line. Then chant, Wider, wider, wider . . . as the child continues to turn the round lid.
  5. Invite children to use the Mystery Shadows tool in the digital Shadows Journal to take a pair of photos: their object casting a thin or wide shadow, and then just the shadow. It may be useful for two children to work together in taking a photo: one to hold the iPad to frame the photo and the other to tap the button to take the photo. See Mystery Shadows Photos for a review of this app.

Children can play the Mystery Shadows game with these additional photos at later Learning Centers.

Length of Play

10–15 min.

Group Size
In the Schedule
 
Vocabulary
  • compare
  • rotate, rotation
  • shadow
  • thin
  • turn
  • wide
 
Learning Goals
Science
  • Observe and describe how the shape of a shadow changes when the blocker is turned/rotated.