Name: Date:

Science Pre-Assessment
1. In your own words, explain what a shadow is to you.

2. Imagine you are outside on a sunny day looking at your shadow, where would the sun bein front of you, behind you or somewhere else?

3. What are the four cardinal directions on a compass? Which direction does the sunrise? Which direction does the sunset?

Science Lesson Plan Lesson Background:

Your Name: Jacob Schmudlach Grade Level: Grade 4

Subject: Science Lesson Title: Shadows and the Sun Materials Needed: Pencils, two flashlights, two small objects, one compass and shadow worksheets Prerequisite Skills: Students will already be familiar with shadows and their relationship to the sun which will allow us to think deeper about them in the lesson. Lesson Objective(s): This is a Solar System unit lesson focusing on shadows and the movement of the sun. Shadows are darkness. Shadows form outdoors during the day when sunlight is blocked by a person or an object. (It is the area with no light.) Shadows size and direction change throughout the day because of the movement of the sun. The 4 cardinal directions are North, East, South and West. The sun rises in the East and sets in the West. (The sun is at its highest point at around noon.)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Interaction with Students

Introduce Shadows: Today we are going to talk about shadows and the sun. I saw from your answers on the worksheet I provided for you earlier this week, that you have ideas of what shadows are and how they are formed. I want to ask you: What are shadows? (Give the students time to think and talk to each other about what a shadow is and then we will come together and discuss it as a group.)
Through discussion with the students we will discuss some ideas and misconceptions about what

shadows are. The students will hopefully see shadows as something like this: Shadows are darkness. Shadows form outdoors during the day when sunlight is blocked by a person or object. It is the area with no light.

Questions to Discuss Shadows dont exist unless is what? What do you need in order to have a shadow? When you are lying in bed at night and there are zero lights on in your roomDo you see any shadows? No you dont see anything do you. (Make sure the students know that you need light to have a shadow)

Explore: To show this I have a flashlight for you to use and an object I want you to set on your desk. The Flashlight will represent the sun and the object will represent you standing outside on a sunny day. I want you to hold the flashlight as if it were the sun and move it up and down and side to side taking a look at the shadow. Then I even want you to turn the flashlight off to see if you see that same shadow anymore. Work with each other and talk about what youre noticing. ( We will do this in two groups of three.) Questions: What did you notice about the shadows? Tell me about all of the different sizes and shapes of the shadows. What caused the shadow to change size? When you shut your flashlight off, what happened? Discussion directed towards the Sun: Now I saw all of you students actually moving your sun (flashlight) around as it were the sun to create your shadow and when you did that, it made the shadow look different. You guys also told me in your assessment worksheets you did that the sun moves everyday in real life. It rises and it sets. Can anyone tell me the four directions? Which direction does the sunrise? Which direction does the sunset? (Make sure they know it rises and the east and it sets in the west.) If the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, what does that tell us about the sun? (From the beginning of the day to the end.) Exploration of Cardinal Directions: I am going to pull out a compass device for all of you students to see. Who can tell me what a compass is? If we know the Sun rises in the east, by looking at my compasswho can point in the direction the sun was in this morning when it rose. If we know the sun sets in the west, who can look at my compass and find west and point in the direction the sun is going to be when it sets tonight. (This is something we will do together as a class.) This is a time to talk about where shadows will be based on where the sun is in the sky.

(I will now go back to the flashlight that is my sun and to the object that is me. I will show the sun moving from the East direction to the West.) The students will see the pattern that I move my hands. Now I want you in your same groups to tell me where the sun will approximately be when it is 12 oclock in the afternoon. (Talk about this) Show me by holding your sun in the right place compared to where your object is that represents you. (Follow that with a short discussion) How did you come up with this answer? Assessment: The last thing I will do, is have the students take a Wheres the Sun paper and show me by working together what the persons shadow would look like and where it would be compared to where the sun is on the paper. If there is time we will discuss this together.