What makes a shadow

Actually, the Earth is spinning rotating on its axis so it is our view of the Sun in the sky that changes during each hour cycle of light and dark. We see the sunrise when our location on Earth spins towards the light of the Sun. As the Earth continues to spin, we see the Sun higher in the sky.

As the Earth spins away from the light, we see the sunset. When New Zealand is in darkness during the night, the opposite side of the world is in sunlight. During the summer, our location is tilted towards the Sun, so our midday shadows are very short. During the winter, our location is tilted away from the Sun, so our midday shadows are longer. The student activities Investigating shadows , Investigating shadows and the position of the Sun and Investigating shadows using transparent, translucent and opaque materials offer engaging ways to explore the science of light and shadows.

The article and interactive cover the science notes provided in the original BSC book. Light and sight — introduction curates Hub resources on light. The articles and media provide useful background information.

The activities are a mix of hands-on and literacy-based investigations. The article Alternative conceptions about light and shadows points out a few of the erroneous conceptions young people may hold about light.

Being aware of common alternative conceptions helps educators to identify them when they surface in discussions and provides an opportunity to scaffold change. Download the Word document for the activity Using shadows to build 3D images. Can they move their hands and make the wings flap? Try making some other shadows as well! Show the class the last picture in the book page Ask, What do you see?

What does the shadow look like? How do you think three children made a shadow that looks like an elephant? What is making the part of the shadow that looks like the elephant's trunk?

What is making the part of the shadow that looks like the elephant's tail? Length of Play min. Bulla's weekly columns caught the attention of a well-known author and illustrator of children's books. She wrote to Mr. Bulla, suggesting that he try writing a children's book. He immediately sent her a manuscript for a children's book he'd written a year before.

Within one week, an editor of a New York publisher read the manuscript,and it was accepted. The book was The Donkey Cart, published in Since then, Mr. Bulla has written over twenty books for children, as well as the music for several children's song books. This is the story of a boy who got off on the wrong foot in a new school and how he tried to cope.

Search review text. Michael Fitzgerald. Author 1 book 32 followers. Book is clear and educational. I will probably like the original illustrations better than these. Clyde Robert Bulla is as good at writing nonfiction as he is early reader chapter books, adapting his simple, sweet style to teach kids basic science concepts in What Makes a Shadow? The book starts with an easy-to-understand explanation of sunlight and why a shadow forms when the light is blocked, then advances to slightly more advanced ideas.

Why does a shadow move when the object causing it does? Why can't you grab a shadow? What shadows do we interact with on a regular basis that we don't recognize as shadows, such as a cloudy day, or night's blanket of darkness when the Sun is on the other side of Earth giving them their daytime?

Anything opaque can cast a shadow, but objects that allow some light to seep through will make dimmer shadows than denser objects. There's a lot to learn and consider about the nature of shadows, even for readers who understand the basic idea.

What Makes a Shadow? There's a subtle narrative throughout that has a group of kids playing in their neighborhood, learning about shadows while they're having fun. What better way to learn than by playing with friends? Clyde Robert Bulla also raises the topic of shadows cast by artificial light, and this segues into humorous instruction in the art of projecting hand shadows onto a wall using lamplight. Students will measure shadows and draw inferences from the data collected, and finally, using trigonometric functions, calculate heights of objects based on the length of the shadow the objects cast.

This allows students to effectively conduct investigations since developing explanations establishes connections between the content of science and the context within which students develop new knowledge. Use Appropriate Tools and Techniques to Gather, Analyze, and Interpret Data The use of tools and techniques including mathematics will be guided by the question asked and the investigations students design.

Students use computers for the collection, summary, and display of evidence. Students access, gather, store, retrieve, and organize data using hardware and software designed for these purposes.