When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
- 😎 Never look at the sun
- 🌳 Outside
My hypothesis
If I change the time of day, then how many heel-to-toe steps long my shadow is will ______, because ______.
You fill in the blanks. Think about where the sun is in the sky in the morning, and where it is at lunchtime. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.
Change, measure, keep the same
CHANGE
the time of day: Morning, Lunchtime, Afternoon
MEASURE
how many heel-to-toe steps long my shadow is, in steps
KEEP THE SAME
- standing on the same chalk mark
- facing the same way
- the same grown-up doing the counting
Scientists call the thing you change the independent variable and the thing you measure the dependent variable. The things you keep the same are the controls: if one of them changed too, you wouldn't know which change made the difference. Try each of the 3 levels 3 times.
What you need
- Sidewalk chalk
- Crayons or markers
- Paper
Steps
- Draw a chalk X on a sunny path, and stand on it with your back to the sun.
- Never look at the sun. Look down at your shadow on the ground.
- Your grown-up marks the top of your shadow's head with chalk.
- Walk heel to toe from the X to the mark, counting every step.
- Do it in the morning, at lunchtime and in the afternoon.
- Do the same on two more sunny days.
- Colour a box for every step. When was your shadow longest?
Every step is one you can do yourself, with a grown-up nearby. Write each number down straight away, in the table below, so nothing is lost.
Your results table
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
I changed: Time I measured: how many heel-to-toe steps long my shadow is (steps)
| Time | Try 1 (steps) | Try 2 (steps) | Try 3 (steps) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | |||
| Lunchtime | |||
| Afternoon |
MY GRAPH (a bar graph: time along the bottom, steps up the side)
What I noticed: ______________________________________________
Write each try's number in its box. Then draw a bar graph, one bar for each thing you tried.
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
If I change the time of day, then how many heel-to-toe steps long my shadow is will ________________, because _____________________________________________
| I CHANGE | I MEASURE | I KEEP THE SAME |
|---|---|---|
| Time: Morning, Lunchtime, Afternoon | how many heel-to-toe steps long my shadow is (steps) |
|
What I think will happen, in my own words:
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
| Date | What I did | What I saw | What I think |
|---|---|---|---|
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
| Date | What I did | What I saw | What I think |
|---|---|---|---|
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
| Date | What I did | What I saw | What I think |
|---|---|---|---|
Name ______________________ Fair day ____________
Question: When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
My hypothesis was ☐ right ☐ partly right ☐ not right.
I know because my numbers show:
What surprised me, or what might have gone wrong (7th and up):
Next time I would test:
Idea: Change a second thing: measure the shadow of a stick standing in a flower pot at the same three times, and compare it with yours.
Why it works
Your shadow is the patch where your body blocks the sunlight. When the sun is low, in the morning and afternoon, the shadow stretches out long, and at lunchtime the sun is high, so the shadow is short.
Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: measure the shadow of a stick standing in a flower pot at the same three times, and compare it with yours.
My picture board
A kindergarten board is one page: the question, a guess to tick, a drawing of the test, a box coloured for each count, and what your child found out, in their words. Glue it to a folded card, or the middle of a tri-fold.
When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
I think… tick one:
- ☐ Morning
- ☐ Lunchtime
- ☐ Afternoon
This is my test: draw it.
I counted: colour one box for each step, for my first try.
I found out:
Board layout
- ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): When is my shadow longest: morning, lunch or afternoon?
- 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change the time of day, then how many heel-to-toe steps long my shadow is will ______, because ______.
- 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 3 things: see your list.
- 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 7 steps, three tries at each level.
- 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (Time down the side, tries across) and your bar graph.
- ✅ Conclusion (10 × 14 in): My hypothesis was right / partly right / not right. I know because…
Materials to list: Sidewalk chalk; Crayons or markers; Paper.
Bring photos or drawings of your test. Nothing wet, hot, powered or alive on the table.
This project at your grade
| Kindergarten | Tries: three at each level (one is fine at a first fair). The table: levels and tries, numbers or pictures. The graph: a picture, or a simple bar graph. The conclusion: what happened, in their words. |
|---|
From 4th grade up, the table gets a mean column. See every project for kindergarten, or print a blank results table.
What a judge will ask
- What did you change, and what did you measure? I changed the time of day and measured how many heel-to-toe steps long my shadow is, in steps.
- What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept standing on the same chalk mark and facing the same way the same, so the only difference was the time of day.
- How many times did you test it? 3 times at each of my 3 levels.
- If you did it again, what would you change or test next? I'd measure the shadow of a stick standing in a flower pot at the same three times, and compare it with yours.
Make it yours
Keep this project on this device and Peabody counts down to your fair day, with a plan for each day. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Try next
👨👩👧 For grown-ups and teachers: how much to help, the safety rules, and running a school fair. Science fair v0.16.1 · Checked .