Have you ever tried to separate yourself from your shadow, or can you make your shadow disappear? 5th-grade scientists at Norway Intermediate are looking at these challenges as they study changing shadows in science class. The focus questions students are trying to answer are how and why does your shadow change during the day? Students went outside on a bright, sunny day and traced their shadows. This experiment was then concluded when students went out later in the day to see how their shadows had changed. As a class, we discussed the placement of the sun and how it changes during a day, how the sun rises and sets, and changes in the sun’s position in the sky from season to season.
This assignment is part of a larger unit studying the Earth, the Sun, and the planets. Students will also be studying moon phases and the types of planets in our solar system.