Shadows

What does Peter Pan and

Phil the Ground Hog have in

common?

Shadows occur when some object blocks the light

Have you ever read the story of Peter Pan? At the beginning of the story, Peter Pan is looking for his shadow. Peter has somehow lost it in the Darling’s home. The ideas that we might lose our shadows is

of course, pure make-believe.

How can you make our own shadow?

• If we stand in sunlight, our body will block the sunlight from reaching the ground. This creates a SHADOW!

• Unlike Peter Pan, we cannot separate from our shadows.

• But our shadows can change, depending on the time of day.

In the morning, the sun rises from the east. As the sun rises overhead, our shadow moves too. It also becomes shorter. In the late afternoon, the sun moves towards the west. As it moves across the sky, our shadows get longer again. Our shadow now falls on the opposite side of our body. Of course, the sun is not really moving: these changes are caused by the rotation of the Earth.

http://www.childrensuniversity.manchester.ac.uk/interactives/science/earthandbeyond/shadows.asp

Longest

ShadowLongest Shadow

Shortest Shadow

West East

sunset sunrise

What Makes Shadows Move?As the Earth rotates on its axis, the position of the sun in the sky changes. It rises in the east and moves around the sky. The sun then sets, or goes down, in the west by early evening. As the direction of the sunlight changes, this causes the shadows it creates to move along the ground.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/7_8/light_shadows_fs.shtml

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Ask yourself…What direction does the sun rise and set?

The Sun Rises in the East sets in the West

Look at the Sun and the shadows in the pictures and match the correct picture with the time.

Shadow NotesChanges in Shadows:

Shadows move along the ground as Earth’s rotation causes the sun to move across the sky from east to west. As Earth rotates and revolves (or orbits) around the sun, shadows on Earth change their length and direction. Shadows also change with the seasons. Shadows are shortest at noon and longest at sunrise and sunset.