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Watch and Discuss: Shadow Tracing

Children trace the shadows they make indoors and outdoors.

Materials

Key Science Concepts

  • A shadow is created by an object blocking the light.
  • You can change the shape of a shadow by moving and turning your body or the object making the shadow or by moving the light source.
  • A shadow shows the shape of an object, but it doesn’t show colors or many other details.

Directions

Before you watch: Tell children that you are going to watch a video in which children trace shadows. What shadows have they traced this week?

After you watch: Ask,

  • How did the experiments the children did indoors remind you of what we did a few days ago when we made big and little shadows using a lamp?
  • What shapes and pictures did the children make by tracing shadows of their hands?
  • Outside, why were the girls not able to see the “H” that they made together? How did they fix this problem?