Light & /Shadows

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Mary Jo Madison, Kate Majewski, Courtney Payne

Does light come through?- Science

Explanation of the activity: Students will learn about the different ways light can go
through, or not go through different types of objects.

Standards:
1.) 1-PS4-3
Plan and conduct investigations to determine the effect of placing objects made with different
materials in the path of a beam of light.
2.) PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation
Some materials allow light to pass through them, others allow only some light through and
others block all the light and create a dark shadow on any surface beyond them, where the light
cannot reach.

Objectives:
1.) Students will make predictions whether light will go through the objects or not.
2.) Students will discuss why light travels through some objects while it does not travel
through other objects.
3.) Students will use vocabulary (light, travel, transparent, translucent, opaque, directions,
scattered, absorbed, reflected) when discussing the experiment.

Materials:
1. Glass cup
2. Opaque cup
3. Tinted plastic cup
4. Flashlight

Procedure:
1. Show students three cups.
2. Ask students what they think will happen when you put a flashlight up next to the
cup. Will you be able to see the light on the other side? Is it the same as if the
cup wasnt there?
3. Test each cup.
4. As they notice the glass cup looks the same as if the glass wasnt there, note that
all of the light has gone through. Explain that this is called transparent.
5. As they notice the tinted plastic cup lets some of the light through, explain that
this is called translucent.
 6. As they notice the opaque cup does not allow any light through it, explain that
this is called opaque.
7. Ask the class to think of a few objects in each category that you can see from the
carpet (window= transparent, whiteboard=opaque, etc.)

Assessment:
1.) Students will use the vocabulary in a class discussion to facilitate their discussion on if
light can go through certain objects or not.
2.) Students will draw and label the three objects (transparent, translucent, opaque).

Accommodations/ELL Adaptations:
1.) Have pictures of how the light passes through each of the objects so ELLs can follow
along through the discussion, especially if they do not have an understanding of the
vocabulary used.
2.) Make sure that ELLs can see the light go through or not go through the objects. Have
those students who are struggling with the concept see the pictures or take part of the
experiment themselves so they get hands-on experience with the materials.
3.) If students have trouble drawing pictures of the objects, use hand over hand to help
guide them or draw with a highlighter or light color on their paper and have them trace
over it with their pencil.
4.) Have the vocabulary words on cards, with pictures, so students can use them as
reference throughout the assessment.

Teacher Background Information:

1.) Make sure there is at least one object of the three that you know light either goes
through or does not go through.
2.) Know the correct terminology when leading the class discussion about why light
does and does travel through objects (Light is able to pass through transparent
objects - the light travels through them. With translucent objects, some of the
light passes through the object - the light does not directly pass through the
object but changes directions and is scattered as it passes through. For opaque
objects, the light is either reflected by the object of absorbed).

Hunt for Transparent, Translucent, and Opaque Classroom Objects - Math

Lesson

Explanation of Activity: After reviewing transparent, translucent, and opaque

materials, students will divide into groups and find objects throughout a large bin of
objects and the rest of the classroom. They will divide the objects according to how
much light is let through, all light, some light, or no light. They will then put the objects
on the shower curtain graph to see the visual representation of the objects.

Standards:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.C.4
Organize, represent, and interpret data with up to three categories; ask and answer
questions about the total number of data points, how many in each category, and how
many more or less are in one category than in another.

Next Generation:
PS4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation
Some materials allow light to pass through them, others allow only some light through and
others block all the light and create a dark shadow on any surface beyond them, where the light
cannot reach. Mirrors can be used to redirect a light beam.

Objectives:
1. Students will sort the materials into translucent, transparent, and opaque categories.
2. Students will count the number of objects in each category.
3. Students will create a graph using the objects to organize the data.
4. Students will analyze the data on the graph.

Materials:
1. Transparent objects (glass, clear plastic, vase, water bottle, etc.)
2. Translucent objects (colored shapes, colored glass, oil, etc.)
3. Opaque objects (thick plastic objects, stuffed animals, pillows, etc.)
4. Shower curtain with dividers

Procedure:
1. Review transparent, translucent, and opaque vocabulary terms.
2. Ask students to be detectives and look through the room for objects in these three
categories.
3. Gather all of the materials and lay them out on the object graph as a class.
4. Students will translate the object graph to a bar graph.
5. Students will answer the questions in the booklet.

Assessment:
1. Students will identify transparent, translucent, and opaque objects.
2. Students will count the amount of objects in each category.
3. Students will make an accurate bar graph.
4. Students will analyze the data.
Accommodations/ ELL Adaptations:
1. Give a student pictures of an object in each category that they can find and bring
over.
2. When explaining the three at the beginning, use visual examples and place these
examples in the bins where you will leave them.

Teacher Background Information:

1. Make sure that there are a good amount of each object.
2. Set boundaries on what students may bring over to the graph (size, what areas,
etc.)
3. Provide the amount of squares in the booklet as in the object graph.

Measuring Shadows - Math Lesson

Explanation of the activity:

Students will measure their shadows a sunny day. They will go outside in pairs and trace each
others shadows with chalk. Once traced, students will measure their shadows with rulers. They
will do this three times a day (9AM, 12PM, and 2:30PM) to see how the lengths of their shadows
changed throughout the day.

Standards:
1.) CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.A.2:
Express the length of an object as a whole number of length units, by laying multiple
copies of a shorter object (the length unit) end to end; understand that the length measurement
of an object is the number of same-size length units that span it with no gaps or overlaps.
2.) CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.1.MD.B.3:
Tell and write time in hours and half-hours using analog and digital clocks.

Objectives:
1.) Students will be able to practice their measuring skills using a formal unit of
measurement.
2.) Students will practice telling and writing time.
3.) Students will be able to explain why their shadows measure at different lengths at
different times of the day.
4.) Students will read the numbers on a meter stick and write down their measurements.

Materials Needed:
1.) Meter stick
2.) pencil
 3.) sidewalk chalk (3 different colors for each group)
4.) charts

Procedure:
1.) Pair the students in pairs (or groups of 3 if there is not an enough number)
2.) Give each student the chart for recording data and a pencil along with a meter stick.
3.) Each pair, or group, should have three different colors of chalk (give a new color to each
group each time you go outside to measure their shadows)
4.) Go outside on the blacktop of a concrete area where the students have enough room to
spread out. Make sure the sun in shining bright enough so there is a distinct shadow.
The time should be around 9 AM.
5.) Have one student stand in direct sunlight with their back to the sun so the sun does not
get in their eyes.
6.) The second student should trace their partners shadow with the chalk.
7.) Write the students initials with the talk inside the shadow to mark whose shadow is
whose.
8.) Switch roles.
9.) After each student has their shadow traced, they will measure their shadows with the
meter stick.
10.) They will record the time they measured their shadows along with the
measurements.
11.) Repeat steps 4-10 for for 12PM and 2:30PM.
12.) Discuss results as a class after the whole experiment is finished.

Accommodations/ELL Adaptations:
1.) If a student is having difficulty holding the chalk or pencil, use hand-over-hand to help
guide the child's movement. If that does not work, have that student do the measuring
and his/her partner trace and write down the data.
2.) If a student is having trouble standing long enough to get his/her shadow traced, have
the student sit and trace/measure from their waist up.
3.) Give these students a chart with a translation in their native language on it.
4.) Model how to do the experiment and show them a completed example of the chart so
they get an idea of what the final numbers are (if necessary, translate the example in
their native language too).
5.) Pair ELLs with students who are able to explain the directions in a clear concise way.
Their partner should also be able to do the experiment without assistance so there is no
confusion.

Teacher Background Information:

1.) Teachers should discuss how and why shadows are created -discussing what a shadow
is and where it comes from where help students better understand the lesson.
 2.) Teachers should introduce measurement before the lesson begins so students know
how to read a ruler and collect data.
3.) Teachers should be familiar on the times of day the sun moves in the sky.

Assessment:
1.) Students should look at their charts to see if they notice anything about their
measurements (measurements are longest at 12PM)
2.) Ask why their shadows have different lengths.
3.) Discuss how the position of the sun affects shadow length.

Invisible Words - Literacy Lesson

Explanation of Activity:
Students will go to a center set up with dark construction paper. Each piece of
construction paper will have a word related to light written in invisible ink. Students will
use a special flashlight to figure out what the word is. Once this occurs they will match
the word to a sheet with pictures to represent the corresponding illustration. Once all the
pictures are matched each student will pick two vocabulary words to make sentences
with.

Materials:
1. Invisible ink pen with flashlight
2. Dark construction paper
3. A sheet with six pictures that matches the vocabulary words used (in booklet)

Standards:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.L.1.5.C
Identify real-life connections between words and their use (e.g., note places at home that are
cozy)
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.1.2
Write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the
topic, and provide some sense of closure.

Central Focus:
Students will learn vocabulary about light, transparency and shadows.

Objectives:
Students will be able to understand vocabulary related lighting.
Students will identify the vocabulary related to illustrations.
Students will describe an object using writing.

Accommodations/ ELL Adaptations:

1. For students who do not know the meaning of the words they can ask a friend or
get another example.
2. There are four students to a center so that they can help their peers.
3. Students who understand all the words and match them quickly they can write
multiple sentences.
4. ELL students can watch their peers match the words then copy each word on a
sheet of paper and draw the picture to have more practice.

Assessment
1. Observe if students matched each word correctly and are able to say it.
2. Make sure that the sentence they have written is correct and that they used the
vocabulary.

Score Sheet
Does light come through? - Science Lesson
One point per picture:

1. _____/1

2. _____/1

3. _____/1
Hunt for Transparent, Translucent, and Opaque Objects - Math Lesson
1. ____/3 (1 per column)

2. ____/1

3. ____/1

4. ____/1
 5. ____/1

6. ____/1

7. BONUS ___/1
Measuring Shadows - Math Lesson
One point for each slot in the chart:

1. ____/6

One for each question:

2. ____/1

3. ____/1

4. ____/1

5. ____/1

6. ____/1

7. BONUS ___/1

LITERACY CENTER CHECKLIST

Write the number of words that are matched correctly to the pictures. Use a checkmark
or x to show if the vocabulary word was used correctly for both sentences. Check minus
for only one sentence.
Name # of correctly matched Sentence is done
words using vocabulary word
correctly.