EXPLORING THE SHADOW

First of all the teacher asked the children what a shadow is and they did not know the answer. So we decided to play to be explorers, going to the playground and looking for the shadow.
When the children are there, we dressed up like explorers but with our imagination, we need a hat and binoculars.
It is sunny, it is 9.40 am. The children are faced the sun. The sun makes the children to close their eyes.

• Question: What happens to Pablo?
• Answer: the sun damages his eyes
• Question: Where is the sun?
• Answer: In the sky
• Question: What can we do to avoid the sun?
• Answer: Turn around.

Then the children can see the teacher’s shadow, I pretend to be angry with my shadow and as I don´t like my shadow I want to get rid of it. I run, walk but the shadow stays there. The children are laughing. Finally I ask the children:

--> I could run faster, would my shadow disappear?
- No you cannot rid of your shadow
- And, why is there a shadow?.
Alter thinking about it for a while, a girl says:
- Because of the sun.

From that moment on we are ready to know more about the shadow.
All the children realize that every child has their own shadow.

The hypothesis is : ¿CAN A SHADOW BE MOVED, IS IT ALWAYS IN THE SAME PLACE?, The children’s answer is NO.
To verify it, Laura stands up and we draw her shadow. Then we compare.
• Who is bigger, Laura or her shadow?
• Her shadow
• Why?
• Because the sun is shining a lot.

Then we go to the classroom. Another question, does everything have a shadow?
The children have got doubts, Yes, No, It depends. The final answer is that the objects have not got shadow.
Later we go to the playground again. We are going to verify if the things have got shadow. So we take a pencil and a lorry.

As soon as they look at them, they realize that the things have got shadow too.
Laura stands up again in the same place but something has happened: her shadow is not in the same place.

- Why has the shadow moved?
- Because the sun has moved
- And why the shadow is smaller?
- Because the sun is in other place.
Another time we go to the classroom again and talk about it.

At 13:15 pm we go to the playground again. The sun is just on our heads up up, up and very high in the sky. We are going to draw and measure the shadow. We take photos.

CONCLUSIONS

- There is a shadow only if it is sunny.
- The sun moves, so the shadow too
- Everybody and everything has got shadow.
- The highest the sun the shortest the shadow
- We cannot rid of the shadow..

The children have got fun. The shadow is for them as a game