Early Science  /  Shadows  /  Videos  /  Activity

Shifting Shadows

 

Shadows
Videos

Children watch the video Shifting Shadows and gather ideas for their own outdoor shadow explorations.

A teacher shows a video on an iPad, which he holds up in front of a group of students. A group of students are seated on the floor watching something out of view.

In this video, kids trace shadows on the playground at different times of day.

Watch the video. How have the shadows changed?

 

Materials

  • Shifting Shadows video on iPads (1 iPad for Circle Time, several for Learning Center)Projector (if available)
  • Lesson 10: Chart paper and marker
  • Optional: projector (if available)

Preparation

  1. Familiarize yourself with the Shifting Shadows video.
  2. If using, set up a projector to display the iPad.
 

Directions: Lesson 10

Circle Time: Introduction
  1. In this video, Shifting Shadows, children trace shadows on the playground at different times of day. As they watch the video, encourage children to pay attention to the shadows. How do the shadows change?
  2. Engage children in discussion about science ideas in the video:
    • In the video, what happened to the shadows on the playground?
    • Have you noticed shadows on our playground when we go out at different times of day? Tell us what you’ve observed.
    • What light source is making the light?
    • What did the children do with the chalk? Why did they do that?
    • What have we done that reminds you of that? What did we discover?
    • What happened to the boy’s shadow?
    • Why do you think that happened?
    • What questions do you have about the shadows and shadow activities in this video?
    • Did the video give you any ideas about shadow activities you think our class should try outside?
  3. Encourage children to pose questions as well. As you discuss these questions, you may want to rewatch the video to discover the answers.
  4. Write children’s ideas on a chart and try to incorporate those ideas into your schedule over the next few days.
Circle Time: Wrap-Up
  1. Watch and discuss the Shifting Shadows video. Use some of the discussion questions listed above. Encourage children to pose questions as well.
  2. Play the video again, this time with the audio OFF, and invite children to provide their own narration as they describe how (and why) the shadows are changing and what the children are doing.
  3. Encourage children to relate their own experiences with tracing and measuring shadows to the scenes shown in the video.
 

Directions: Lesson 11

Circle Time: Introduction
  1. Watch and discuss the Shifting Shadows video. Use some of the questions listed above. Encourage children to pose questions as well.
  2. Play the video again, this time with the audio OFF, and invite children to provide their own narration as they describe how (and why) the shadows are changing and what the children are doing.
  3. Encourage children to relate their own experiences with tracing and measuring shadows to the scenes in the video.
Learning Center
  1. Invite children to rewatch the Shifting Shadows video and closely observe what happens.
  2. As you stop by this center, engage children in conversation to describe the shadows they observe and to make connections to shadow explorations the class did themselves, inspired by this video. Use similar prompts as above.
Length of Play

5 min.

Group Size
In the Schedule
 
Vocabulary
  • describe
  • light source
  • observe
  • question
  • shadow
  • trace
 
Learning Goals
Science
  • Observe and describe shadows (identify the light source, the object that blocks the light, and the shadow or darker area on the surface on the opposite side of the light source).
  • Observe and describe how a shadow changes when the light source is moved (shadow becomes bigger if the light moves closer to the blocker and smaller if the light moves farther away from the blocker.)