Subject/Grade: Lesson/Date: Time:

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Grade 4 Science Shadow Lesson 1 - November 25 1.5 hours
Stage 1: Desired Results
Lesson Students will get to do some hands-on research to gather data about the changes of shadows
Overview: throughout the day. They will get to measure a shadow at intervals throughout the day and
analyze the changes in length and direction. This is an introduction to them about the ways
shadows change and are affected by a light source.
GOs: Students will: Identify sources of light, describe the interaction of light with different
materials, and infer the pathway of a light beam.
SOs: Students will: Describe changes in the size and location of Sun shadows during the day—early
morning, to midday, to late afternoon.
Learning Students will:
Objectives  Collect data about shadow length and direction in the morning, midday and afternoon.
 Analyze their data and contribute to a discussion about the movement of shadows.

Stage 2: Assessment Evidence

Formative Think-pair-share and class discussion. Summative N/A
Assessment Picture drawing on their title page. Assessment

Stage 3: Learning Experience

Prior to This lesson must be Resources: Meter sticks (1 per group of 3 students)
Lesson: done on a sunny day, be Following the Sun Worksheet
sure to check the http://andrewmarsh.com/apps/staging/sunpath3d.html
weather and choose an
appropriate day for the
lesson.
Time: Content/Description Differentiation/
Assessments:
Introduction:
5 mins Review of Previous Concepts/New Learning: We already
learned a little bit about shadows and that they are cast by
translucent or opaque objects. Now we are going to begin
investigating shadows more deeply, and think about what
makes shadows bigger, smaller, longer and shorter.
Transition: Has anyone taken a close look at their shadow
throughout the day before? Or noticed that shadows outside
look much different depending on the time of day? Why do
you think that is? It’s because the position of the sun in the sky
is always changing throughout the day. Let’s take a close look
at our shadows today and find out exactly how it changes
throughout the day.
Body:
1 hour Learning Activity 1: Shadow Measuring and Worksheet Some students may need help
(Four 15  At different intervals throughout the day (9:00 AM, with their bar graph, as graphs
minute 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM, 3:00 PM) students will go outside are new to them.
intervals and use a meter stick to measure the length of their
) shadow.
 They will be in groups of 3 and take turns measuring
each other’s shadow. One person will stand still in a
place where their shadow is clearly cast and they are
facing north, and the other two will work together to
Subject/Grade: Lesson/Date: Time:
measure the shadow.
 The person having their shadow measured will record
the time and the length of their shadow in the right spot
below the x-axis on their graph. They will also draw a
line in the direction their shadow is facing on the
compass, and a dot to represent the side of the sky the
sun is on.
 They will repeat this and take turns until all group
members have measured their shadow.
 Once back inside, students will fill in their bar graph in
as well for the corresponding time. Fill one in at the
front of the room with them each time so that they
know what to do.
Transition After the final shadow measuring around 3:00 PM,
students should be back inside and have their final part of their
bar graph complete. Now we have a visual of what happened to
our shadow over the day, and we are going to discuss it.
20 mins Learning Activity 2: Virtual Demonstration and Think pair share questions
Discussion. gauge student’s critical thinking
 Use think, pair, share to engage in a discussion about skills.
what they noticed about their shadows throughout the
day.
 Pose one or two thought provoking questions such as: Draw pictures on the board
What do you notice about the length of your shadow throughout to supplement the
throughout the day? What do you notice about the discussion with images and
direction your shadow is pointing throughout the day? examples.
Give them one minute to think about it on their own,
and one minute to share with a partner beside or behind
them. Call on pairs using the lottery to have them share
what they think.
 Write down some of their ideas on the board. Students
should notice that their shadows are longer in the
morning and late afternoon than they are midday. They
should also notice that their shadow starts off pointing
west and ends up pointing east.
 Have a discussion about why this happens and use a
virtual tool to help show the students.
(http://andrewmarsh.com/apps/staging/sunpath3d.html)
With this tool, you can show students a 3D model of a
sun in the sky over the city and the shadows cast
throughout the day.
 The shadows change length throughout the day because
the sun changes positions and heights in the sky as it
rises and sets.
 The direction that shadow is pointing is opposite of the
direction the sun is in the sky.
Consolidation: Now they have a learned a few new things The pictures they draw of their
about light and shadow that they can add to their title page. own shadows along with a Sun
Draw a picture of yourself and your shadow cast by the sun. will show what they’ve
Make sure the shadow is in the right spot relative to your sun! understood from this lesson.
Subject/Grade: Lesson/Date: Time:
5 mins Review of Key Concepts/Point to Next Class: Next class we
are going to learn a bit more about manipulating shadows. We
just learned today that the change in the suns position
determines what shadows on Earth look like. Next, we will
experiment with other objects and light sources and take a
closer look at how shadows are made and altered.
Stage 4: Reflection
1. How the students responded to the lesson as planned and taught: The students started off quite excited
about the lesson but started to get a bit tired of it as the day went on. This lesson was long and repetitive, so
they began to lose interest about half-way through the day. They did however continue to focus and work
hard to measure their shadows, and their bar graphs looked great when finished! I shortened the lesson and
skipped the last shadow measurement because I could tell they were losing interest, so we had a longer
discussion instead. Not all of them were very engaged in the discussion, but the few that were seemed to
understand and show interest in the concepts. Although not everyone was very engaged in discussion, they all
did good work on their worksheets.
2. Specific strengths of the lesson plan and delivery: My explanation of the activity was clear and the
students knew what to do. They all seemed to like having the bar graph on their worksheet and I think it was
a great way for them to visualize the data they collected. They were able to easily see exactly how much their
shadows changed through the day. The activity was also more engaging for them than normal because they
got to go outside. The virtual example was also a helpful aid for them to visualize the movement of shadows
caused by the position of the sun. The worksheet and examples seemed to work as intended as they were able
to answer the thought provoking questions. Having them in groups of 3 was perfect, as they each had a job to
do when measuring shadows and remained engaged.
3. Specific weaknesses in the lesson plan and delivery: I made some assumptions about what students
would already know before this activity, so they were confused about some things. Not all of them know the
directions on a compass, how to use a meter stick, or decimals. All of these things need to be explained
before the lesson begins or altered so they are easier for the students to understand. The length of the lesson is
also a weakness – my students seemed bored and disinterested in the activity by the end of the day.
4. What must be addressed to improve this plan? The worksheet needs to be altered – the compass activity
wasn’t as easy for them to fill in on their own as I had hoped. They were able to fill this part in with some
guidance, but it would be better if they could fill it in on their own. The scale of the y-axis on the bar graph
also needs to be changed so that it is smaller, and the ticks are labelled by 1’s instead of 2’s. This would make
their bar graph much easier to fill out than it was. Time needs to be allowed for brief explanation of things
like a compass, bar graph, meter stick and decimals – consider showing a video or some other examples.
5. How I have grown from this teaching experience: I very much enjoy science because I think activities
and experiments like this are fun and cool. So, I was little disappointed that they weren’t as engaged as I had
hoped. It is much more difficult to find activities that engage all of them than I anticipated. I am getting a
better idea of what the students find interesting and how long they stay interested. This is also the second time
I have observed them working in groups and it’s very interesting to see which students work well together
and which don’t. Group selection is a huge factor in how productive they will be, and I’m learning more
about how to make group work more efficient. One thing I have trouble with when planning lessons is I often
overlook small things that I assume they know already, and end up having to explain something in more
detail that I thought would be known to them already. I expect I will get better at avoiding this the longer I
am around students of all ages. I am already learning more about what I can expect that students in Grade 4
and below have been exposed to already.