Sneaky Shadows Revised Note: I added a more in depth description of what questions to ask students during the reading of the book and also after the book has been read. This description ties the Language Arts content with the Science content of the lesson together in a more cohesive way than just simply reading the book. Grade: 3 NCSCOS Connections: Competency Goal 3: The learner will make observations and use appropriate technology to build an understanding of the earth/moon/sun system. 3.02 Observe that objects in the sky have patterns of movement including: Sun. Moon. Stars. 3.03 Using shadows, follow and record the apparent movement of the sun in the sky during the day. Target Concepts: With this demonstration there is one main target concept: how the earth revolves around the sun and how this affects shadows on the earth’s surface. The main focus is on the rotation of the earth in the span of one day. The sun rises in the east and seems rotate through the sky to set in the west. However the sun is not the object that is rotating in the sky. The earth is the moving object while the sun stays stationary. The way people explain the rising and setting of the sun leads to misconceptions about the sun being the moving object. The earth spins on its axis, north and south poles, as it rotates. One rotation of the earth is approximately equal to twenty-­‐four hours, or one full day. The earth’s full revolution around the sun takes approximately 365 days, or a full year. As the earth makes its full rotation to make one day, it produces shadows all over earth’s surface. Shadows are produced because light cannot penetrate most solid objects. Also, light cannot curve around objects because light travels in straight lines. Both of these facts lead to the production of shadows. However, during the day, shadows change length, size, and position because of the changing position of the sun. Shadows always form on the side of the object that is facing away from the sun. Shadows always start where the light is initially blocked. Therefore, shadows start at your feet, or the base of a tree, or building. This is why the part of the shadow that is furthest from the object blocking the sun is usually the most distorted. Common Core State Standards –Language Arts: RI.3.7. Use information gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key events occur). RL.3.3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. I will use the book “Time for Bed: The Secret of Shadows” by Lisa Allen, as the main portion of my Language Arts integration. This picture book is about how shadows made at night are sometimes not what they seem. After reading the book to the students, we will begin discussing why shadows do not always look like the object they are shadows of by using illustrations from the book and referencing the text. We will also discuss the way the characters in the story may have felt when they saw the different shadows. This will be a good way to connect the text to the students’ real life because many people have experienced being frightened by a shadow. Materials Needed: • Chalk – for students to trace shadows • “Time for Bed: The Secret of Shadows” by Lisa Allen (book) • Globe – to model how the earth moves around the sun • Desk lamp/Flashlight – to provide light for shadow exploration in the classroom • Procedure: • Begin the demonstration by lining students up at the door of the classroom without telling them why you are all leaving the classroom. Have students bring paper and pencil. • When outside, give students chalk and ask them to find shadows and trace them. o Ask: Predict what will happen to the shadow you traced if we were to come back in a few hours.  Answer: Students write answers on their sheets of paper • Line students up once again, without explaining why they just traced shadows. Have students go back inside and go on with their day. • Later in the day, go back outside with students and have them go back to the shadow they traced. Have them bring a piece of paper and pencil or science •
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journals so they can record anything they notice about the shadow and the sun. o Ask: What happened to your shadows?  Answer: They moved! o Ask: In which direction did they move? How did the shadows change?  Answer: (Depends on the particular shadow) It moved to the left and the shape is different. It is longer than it was before. It’s on a different side of the tree than it was before. Have students write down all of their observations about the movement of the shadow. Bring students back inside and begin reading “Time for Bed: The Secret of Shadows.” Before reading, ask students to be prepared to write down similarities of the shadows in the book with the shadows they traced outside. Begin reading the book. Stop throughout the book in order to allow students to make further observations o Page 4:  Ask: Has anyone every woken up in the middle of the night and seen a shadow on your walls? • Answer: Yes! They are scary sometimes • Answer: I do! The ones from the trees outside move  Ask: What can we do with the flashlight that would make the shadow on this page change? • Answer: We can move it! • Answer: Yeah, if we make the flashlight move, then the shadow will be different.  Demonstrate for students different movement of the flashlight in relation to the book. Ask students to make observations. • Move it further from the book • Move it closer to the book • Move it to the left • Move it to the right o Page 8:  Ask students to vocalize their observations when you move the flashlight.  Ask: What happens to the shape of the shadow when I move the flashlight up? • Answer: The shadow looks like it is getting smaller • Answer: Yeah, the shadow gets shorter when you move the flashlight up  Ask: What happens to the shape of the shadow when I move the flashlight down? • Answer: It gets bigger at the top! • Answer: The shadow looks like it is growing and getting bigger! Ask: Using your observations, what do you think you can infer from that information? • Answer: The shadow does the opposite of the flashlight • Answer: When the flashlight goes up the shadow gets smaller and when the flashlight goes down the shadow gets bigger. It is opposite.  Ask: So can we guess what might happen if I move the flashlight to the right of the book? • Answer: I think that the shadow would move the other way, to the left  Ask: And what would the shadow do if I move the flashlight to the left of the book? • Answer: It would move the right! o Ask: Has anyone noticed any similarities between the shadows outside and the shadows in the story?  Answer: They are the same because the shadows outside and the shadows in the book look different than the thing they are shadows of.  Answer: They are the same because they change Finish reading the book. o Ask: How do you think the characters felt in the story?  Answer: The characters felt scared because the shadows scared them  Answer: They felt sad because they didn’t know what the shadows were o Ask: Why do you think the shadows were so scary to them?  Answer: I think they were scary because they didn’t know what they were.  Answer: I think they were scary because it was night time o Ask: Have you ever been scared by a shadow? Why were you scared?  Answer: I was scared of a shadow one time because I thought it was a monster in my room like in the story.  Answer: I was scared of a shadow because it was a tree outside and it was moving o Ask: How do you think this book helps us understand what happens with shadows from the sun?  Answer: The flashlight is like the sun and the book is like the earth  Answer: Yeah, and so if the sun goes to the left, the shadows all go to the right and if the sun goes to the right the shadows all go to the left.  Answer: And also, when the sun is right above us then there is no shadow because when you move the flashlight up the shadow gets smaller, so that would mean the sun goes up and 
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the shadows get smaller and then when it goes back down the shadows get bigger again. Focus students’ attention to the globe. o Ask: (Student Name) will you come and point out where we are located on this globe?  Answer: (Student) identifies approximately where on the globe we are located Attach a rolled up piece of paper, standing up, on the globe. This will come into play once you start shining the “sun” (flashlight) on the globe. o Ask: Can anyone guess why the shadows we traced earlier outside moved?  Answer: Because the sun moved o Ask: Do we know that the sun moves? Could the earth have moved instead?  Answer: Maybe, but the earth doesn’t feel like it’s moving. o Ask: Well it’s moving so slowly that we can’t feel it. So if we’ve learn the earth is moving, how does that relate the predictions you made earlier?  Answer: I predicted that the shadow would be the same but the earth moved so now it’s different  Answer: I thought the shadow would change but I thought it was because the sun was moving. o Ask: Look back at what you wrote about the way that your shadow moved. Which way do you think the earth has to move to make your shadow move that way?  Answer: I think the sun moves one way in the sky and the shadow moves the other way on the ground. Ask a student to come be the sun. Have that student shine the flashlight on the globe while you demonstrate how the earth moves on an axis. Explain that the earth rotates on its axis and it revolves around the sun. Explain that one rotation is equal to one day and that the earth rotates by turning to the right, which is why the sun seems to rise in the east and set in the west. Explain that a revolution of the earth around the sun take 365 days or one whole year. Point out the shadow of the rolled up piece of paper that you put on the globe earlier. o Ask: What do you notice about the shadow that is forming on the globe? Can someone explain how the shadow is changing?  Answer: The shadow is changing when the earth spins. The shadow moves to the east as the sun moves to the west. o Ask: Predict what would happen if the earth turned the other direction. Answer: If they earth moved in the other direction, the shadows would move in the other direction too. o Ask: Imagine that clocks were not invented yet. Is there a way that you could use the sun to tell time? How would you do so?  Answer: You could use the shadows to figure out what time of day it was. You could mark where a shadow was in the morning and then measure how far the shadow moves and that will help you figure out the time because the sun moves as the day goes on. o Ask: Is using the sun and shadows as a way to tell time reliable? Why or why not?  Answer: I think it is only a little reliable because sometimes the sun isn’t out on cloudy days. Also I think you couldn’t know the exact time of day it is because you have to estimate. 
Reference Sources: • PhysicalGeography.net – Fundamental eBook o http://www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6h.html o This is where much of my background information came from. The idea for the demonstration came from my CI 4401 class. This site has information about the earth’s movement around the sun and how it affects the days and seasons. • Suzy’s World o http://www.suzy.co.nz/suzysworld/Factpage.asp?FactSheet=123 o This is where I got my information about shadows. I learned why they form and the reasons behind their changes. • All photos are from Google • “Time for Bed: The Secret of Shadows” by Lisa Allen o This is the book I use for my Language Arts integration. It helps to hone in on the idea that shadows don’t always take the exact shape of the object there are a shadow of. This helps to generate conversation about the shadows they traced outside and how they aren’t exactly the same shape as the object they are a shadow of.