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Discuss: What are the two different ways you could make the shadow move?
When you are playing outside on a sunny day sometimes you notice your shadow and it is short, and other times you notice your shadow and it’s long like this picture.
Discuss: What time of day is your shadow long? (Morning, noon, or afternoon?)
Discuss: What do you think is true: is the Earth turning? Or is the Sun going around us?
Discuss: How could you figure out for sure whether it's the Earth or the Sun that's moving?
Hint: Think about the train.
Discuss: Say we have a big globe and a flashlight. How could we figure out what a tiny person on the globe would see, as the globe turns?
Call students’ attention to the movement of shadows by marking the position of a shadow cast by the Sun. Ask your students to guess (and mark) where the shadow will be in ten minutes. To mark a shadow, use chalk (if you're on the playground) or a post-it (if the shadow is in the classroom).
Students might be surprised at how much a shadow moves in 10 minutes. They can also have fun competing against each other with their guesses.
You can have students trace their shadows on the playground in the morning, at midday, and in the afternoon. Like Post-It Paula's shadow on the balloon, your shadow will change with the angle of the Sun (long in the morning, short at midday, and back to long in the evening). Students will enjoy seeing their silhouette get morphed and skewed.
For a detailed description of this activity, check out the National Science Teacher’s Association Changing Shadows.
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