Shadows Study Guide
 Shadows are caused when an object blocks the path of light.
 Earth’s rotation causes day and night! As the Earth rotates, the sun seems to
move across the sky. The sun’s light shines on objects from different
directions throughout the day. The changing direction of sunlight causes the
sizes and shapes of shadows to change!
 The sun rises in the EAST & sets in the WEST.
 A shadow appears in the opposite direction from the sun’s light. Shadows are
longest in the morning and evening as the sun is rising and setting.
In the morning, the sun is lower in
the sky, causing shadows to be long
and thin (in the opposite direction)!
 Shadows are the shortest at noon, when the sun is directly above us. This is
when the sun is at its highest point in the sky!
At noon, the sun is right above us, so
our shadows are short and fat!
 The two tools below can be used to measure how shadows change throughout
the day!
a sundial
shadow stick