20 Nov Year 6 – Young Scientists!
This week, our young scientists took part in an exciting experiment to explore how shadows are formed and what factors can make them increase or decrease in size. To begin, the children discussed their existing ideas about shadows and made their own predictions about what they thought would happen when an object moved closer to or further away from a light source.
Working in small groups, the children were given a range of resources—torches, objects of different shapes, measuring tools and white screens. They worked collaboratively to decide how best to use the equipment so they could test their ideas efficiently. Each group experimented by shining the light on their chosen object and observing the size and shape of the shadow it created.
A key focus of the lesson was fair testing. The children learned that to make their results reliable, they needed to keep every variable the same except one. In this investigation, they changed only the distance between the object and the light source, allowing them to clearly see how this single factor affected the size of the shadow.
To finish, the children recorded their experiment scientifically in their books. They included labelled scientific drawings, clear explanations of the method and key vocabulary such as opaque, light source, distance and shadow size.
It was a fantastic opportunity for the children to develop their enquiry skills and deepen their understanding of how light behaves—while having plenty of fun along the way!