🧪 Shadow Investigation

primary-4 · Ages 8–11 · 🏠 Safe at home

Objective: Discover how shadows change when the light moves.

🔒 Safety Notice: Ask an adult to supervise. Do not taste any experiment materials. Do not use dangerous chemicals. Follow the instructions carefully and wash your hands afterwards.

🔮 Step 1 — Predict first!

Your prediction

Predict: what happens to the shadow when the torch moves closer?

Write your best guess (scientists call it a hypothesis):

🧰 Materials

A torch, a small toy, white paper, a pencil

📋 Instructions

1. In a dim room, stand the toy on the paper and shine the torch at it.
2. Move the torch closer and farther away. Trace the shadow each time.
3. Shine from high up, then from low down. Trace again.

⚙️ The variables

🔧 What we change

Distance and angle of the torch

📏 What we measure

Size and shape of the shadow

⚖️ What stays the same

The toy, the paper, the room

📊 Step 2 — Collect your data

Enter your own measurements below — the chart draws itself as you type. If your experiment does not have measurements, record what you saw in the notes box.

Day / Try	Measurement A	Measurement B	Notes
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📈 Your bar chart will appear here.

🔍 Step 3 — Prediction vs observation

What actually happened? Compare it with your prediction:

💡 The science behind it

Light travels in straight lines. Close to the toy, the light is blocked over a wide area — a big shadow. Far away, the shadow shrinks. A low torch makes a very long shadow.

🏁 Conclusion

Your tracings show how the shadow grew and shrank — data you collected yourself!

🚀 Extension challenge

Predict your shadow's length tomorrow morning, at noon and in the evening. Test it!

🧑‍🏫 Teacher notes

Children may need help tracing the shadow quickly before the torch moves.