Light and

shadows
My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited
Questions to think about…
How well can we see
through different
types of materials?

How are
What helps shadows
us to see? formed?

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

 What helps us to see?

• Light is a form of energy that helps us see
the things around us.
• Things that give off light are known as
sources of light.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

 What helps us to see?

• During the day, the Sun is our main source
of light.
• The Sun gives off its own light.
• It brightens our surroundings and helps us
to see the things around us.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

 What helps us to see?

• At night, we use
other sources of
light to help us
see.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited
 How does light help us to see?
• Although most of the things around us are not
sources of light, we can still see them.
• This is because these things reflect light into our
eyes.
• When light
bounces off
something, we
say that light is
reflected.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

 How does light help us to see?

• When light bounces off from something, we
say that light is reflected.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited
 How well can we see through
different types of objects?
• Look at the objects below.
• They are made of materials such as wood, metal,
some types of plastics, cardboard and clay.
• Such materials do not allow light to pass
through them.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

 How well can we see through

different types of objects?
• Look at the objects below.
• They are made of materials such as paper, some
types of plastics and cloth.
• Such materials only allow some light to pass
through them.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

 How well can we see through

different types of objects?
• Look at the objects below.
• They are made of materials such as glass and
some types of plastics.
• These materials allow light to pass through
them.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

 How can we know how much light

passes through an object or a place?
• A light sensor can measure the amount of light
passing through an object.
• The measurements taken can be recorded in a
datalogger connected to the light sensor.

The measurements can

be transferred from the
datalogger to a computer,
light sensor and shown as a graph.

datalogger
My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

 How are shadows formed?

• A shadow is the dark area formed by an
object.
• Light travels in straight lines.
• When light is completely or partially
blocked by an object, a shadow of the
object is formed.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

Shapes and sizes of shadows

• The position of an object can affect the
shape of its shadow.
o When an object is placed at different positions,
it can form shadows of different shapes.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

Shapes and sizes of shadows

• The position of the light
source can change the
size of a shadow.
o When the light source is
closer to the object, the
shadow of the object
becomes bigger.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

Shapes and sizes of shadows

• The position of the light
source can change the
size of a shadow.
o When the light source is
further from the object,
the shadow of the object
becomes smaller.

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited

My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited
The end
My Pals are Here! Science © 2008 Marshall Cavendish (Singapore) Private Limited