Ana's Shadow Show
Ana stands in the sunshine. A dark shape lies on the ground by her feet.
What is that dark shape?
Page 1
Science · Grade 1 Science
Chapter 1: Light and What We See
A shadow is where the light could not get to.
Ana stands in the sunshine. A dark shape lies on the ground by her feet.
What is that dark shape?
Make your guess to turn the page.
Still to come: 6 pages · Words to Know · What We Learned · 4 questions · Ask and Wonder
The idea this lesson is working on — Children often think a shadow is a dark thing an object makes and carries around. In the book the shadow simply stops existing twice: when the block is taken away, and when the light is turned off. Ask: where did the shadow go? Nowhere. The light just reached the screen again.
Light goes straight — Light only travels in straight lines. It cannot curve round the back of something to fill the gap, which is the whole reason shadows exist. A shadow has the shape of whatever is blocking the light: a round ball makes a round shadow.
You need two things — A shadow needs a light shining and something solid in front of it. Take the light away and there is no shadow, only dark. Take the blocker away and the light lands everywhere.