Science

Science 1
For Properties and States of Matter - Irreversible changes
please see:
Design and Technology - Bread making
 Science 2
Light (Year 6)

Contents:

1. Light as metaphor in Jumping on my Shadow

2. Light as science in Jumping on my Shadow

3. Dobby Shadow warm up game

4. Making shadow puppets

5. Crime Lab explorations (Hamilton Trust)

 1. Light as a metaphor in Jumping on my Shadow
Light, darkness and shadows are often used as metaphors in Jumping on my Shadow.

“We often use the idea of light and dark to express our emotions. Light and dark can express our ideas
about life and death.

There are also value judgements attached to light and dark.

The title of the play came from my 5 year old son describing a game in the street.”

Peter Rumney, Writer, Jumping on my Shadow

 Light as a metaphor in Jumping on my Shadow
examples from the play:

- A momentary shadow (memory) passes over Grandmother, then she wants to get out. (p18)

- “But as the sun rises in the east a grey shadow rises also….. a grey shadow lifting its head
and looking towards me with cruel eyes as it moves towards me…” (Josip p 25)

- “…and it feels as if someone is always in my shadow, and I'm in theirs… (Grandma p 52)

- Josip goes closer and mirrors all her actions, like a shadow. (p 55)
 2. Light as science in Jumping on my Shadow
Some questions for the pupils:

• Why did the theatre company use lighting when presenting the play in the room where you saw it?

• Can you remember a particular moment in the play when lighting was particularly important?

• How might the lighting be affected if Jumping on my Shadow is being seen in a theatre black box as
opposed to your school hall?

• Were there any shadows cast during the production? How were these shadows created?

• What kind of light was needed to project the film sequences in the play?
 3. Dobby Shadow
See the Dobby Shadow game in the Resource bank for how to play

You can use this game as a warm up for these science activities,
and link with PE.
 4. Making Shadow Puppets
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/z87jmp3

Making a shadow puppet theatre:

http://www.kidspot.com.au/things-to-do/activities/make-a-shadow-
puppet-theatre
Hand Shadow Puppets
 Shadow Puppet Templates
(included in Resource Bank)
 5. Crime Lab Exploration
The light and shadow activities below have been inspired by and acknowledge:

https://www.hamilton-trust.org.uk/browse/science/y6/year-6-autumn-1-light-
crime-lab-investigation/116324
 Lesson One - Teaching Objectives

• Plan and complete a series of light investigations, identifying variables and

ensuring fair testing

• Suggest patterns and connections based on observations and measurements

• Draw conclusions and provide answers based on scientific enquiry

 Lesson One - Curriculum Objectives
Light:

i) recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines

ii) use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen
because they give out or reflect light into the eye

iii) explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes
or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes

iv) use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the
same shape as the objects that cast them
 Lesson One - Curriculum Objectives
Working Scientifically:

i) planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including

recognising and controlling variables where necessary

ii) taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing

accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate

iii) recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams
and labels, tables, bar and line graphs

iv) reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal
relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written
forms such as displays and other presentations
• Have the room as dark as you can make it, with strategically placed torches on
shelves and desks, all pointing towards a ‘briefcase’.

• Explain to the children that you need to go through some details of a crime with
them that the ‘UK Crime Lab’ are hoping they are going to be able to help solve.

• Explain that the Crime Lab has sent you over the crime report for the theft of a
laptop at West Hollow Secondary School.

• Outline what has happened (see Crime Lab Investigation Lesson 1 in the
Resources Bank) and explain that the Crime Lab is looking for a team of ‘light’
experts to work with them on solving the crime.
• Explain that you will give children the crime lab reports in due course, but that in
order to work on the team, all children need to pass a series of induction
challenges in groups.

• Children discuss the challenge questions in their groups and write out specific
enquiry questions for what they need to investigate.

• They will need to use the equipment given to demonstrate or investigate the
challenges before coming to any conclusions.

• Clarify understanding of the difference between ‘demonstrating’ and

‘investigating’.
• Have the Crime Lab Challenges (see Crime Lab Investigation Lesson 1 in Resources
Bank) set up around the room and children complete them independently in
mixed ability groups (about 12mins per challenge).

• Use questions to support less able and encourage more able children to lead the
exploration of the 'higher level of expertise' challenges.

• Use this as an opportunity to establish current knowledge; what has been

retained from studying light in Y3 and any misconceptions.

• The challenges are also designed to help establish children's approach and ability
for working scientifically.
Look for evidence of:

• effective enquiry questioning,

• discussion of variables and fair testing,
• prediction language,
• accurate observations and use of measuring equipment,
• recording results and conclusions in a logical manner,
• and identifying patterns and making connections.

Once children have completed their challenges give them the Crime Lab Report and
Suspects List to discuss in their groups.
• Work through each challenge, establishing the core knowledge and ironing out
any misconceptions (e.g. that light travels from our eyes, that shiny things emit
light, and that a shadow is a form of reflection).

• Highlight any approaches and discussions that you encountered which showed a
high level of working scientifically and explain that this is going to be essential
throughout the investigation as the evidence they present needs to stand up in a
court of law.

• Now go through the suspects and reinforce the idea that children will need to use
science to prove ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ who committed the crime. Complete
the BBC quiz (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/quiz/q44852863 - BBC Bitesize:
Light Quiz, not q.10) as the final part of their ‘selection process’ for the Crime
Lab.
 Lesson Two – Teaching Objectives

• Demonstrate that light travels in straight lines

• Understand why a light source is needed to see

 Lesson Two - -Curriculum Objectives
Light:
i) recognise that light appears to travel in straight lines

ii) use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain that objects are seen
because they give out or reflect light into the eye

iii) explain that we see things because light travels from light sources to our eyes
or from light sources to objects and then to our eyes
 Lesson Two - -Curriculum Objectives
Working Scientifically:

i) planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including

recognising and controlling variables where necessary

ii) recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and
labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs

iii) reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal
relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written
forms such as displays and other presentations
• Explain that the police believe that the school was 'cased' before being broken
into - someone had visited the site prior to the crime.

• The evidence that they have for this is from internal and external CCTV
recordings.

• The suspect was seen drilling a hole in the external gymnasium wall then shining
a torch into the gym. Unfortunately the hole was refilled and covered perfectly
and so cannot be located, but three spots of light were noted internally: one high
up near the windows, one part way up the wall, and the third on the floor.

• The Crime Lab needs to know if light travels in straight lines or curves and
believes if it is the former that with this information and the measurements of
the internal walls that they can narrow down the height of the suspect to within a
few centimetres.
• Look at the blank diagram (See Crime Lab Investigation, Lesson 2 in Resources
Bank) in pairs. Decide if light travels in straight or curved lines.

• Can the students suggest the kind of angle the torch must have been held at and
the position of the suspect (kneeling, stood straight, on tip toes) to match the
internal spot positions?
• Discuss how big the hole was and why? (Big enough to look through as well as
shine the torch through - reinforce that light comes from a light source, not eyes.
Explain that the internal CCTV was pitch black when the torch was off.)

• Children will need to calculate the height of the external hole from the diagram
as well as calculate the height of the suspects in cm (we have only been given
them in imperial measures).

• They also need to find a way to demonstrate that light travels in straight lines.
Why might these things help eliminate one or more suspects? (Some may be too
short to see through the hole at all three angles if light can only travel in straight
lines.)
• Support ability groups to calculate the height of the external hole and the height
of the suspects in cm.

• Give each group a shoe box, torch, pen and knitting needles and ask them to see
if they can demonstrate that light travels in straight (not curved) lines.

• Encourage children to be creative and develop their own ideas, but in the
knowledge that the knitting needles could be forced through a viewing hole to
mark a point on the shoe box lid, which could then be marked by pen to test if
the light from the torch hits the same point when shone at the same angle
through the hole.

• Once they have concluded that light does travel in straight lines, calculate which
suspect/s couldn’t have created and viewed the three beams (children suggest
likely angles of the torch and to think about eye height vs actual height and how
much standing on tip toes adds to height).
Come together and share conclusions - What science are we relying on?
(light travels in straight lines)

• What maths are we relying on? (angles and conversions)

• Could the suspect have ‘cased’ the gymnasium without a light source?

• Why do we know that the hole must have been bigger than the size of an eye?
(both the eye needed a visual and the light source needed to get through)

• How does a light source work to enable us to see? (reflection of light on our
surroundings into our eyes)

• Can they discount one of the suspects? (Prof Alice Nilsson who is 5ft 3.)
 Lesson Three – Teaching Objectives

• Note and explain that a shadow has the same shape as the thing or person
casting it

• Plan and carry out an investigation into shadow size and position of a light source

• Use data from their investigation to draw a line graph

 Lesson Three – Curriculum Objectives

Light:
i) use the idea that light travels in straight lines to explain why shadows have the
same shape as the objects that cast them
 Lesson Three – Curriculum Objectives

Working Scientifically:
i) planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including
recognising and controlling variables where necessary

ii) taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing

accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate

iii) recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams
and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs

iv) reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal
relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written
forms such as displays and other presentations
• Cut out the scaled suspects outlines (see Crime Lab Investigation Lesson 3 in
Resource Bank) and stick them on lolly sticks to create a series of shadow
puppets.

• Give children a set of puppets and torches per group.

• Groups investigate and play with torches and puppets for 10 minutes.

• Explain that this equipment was dropped off from the Crime Lab this morning, as
it will be useful to analyse the next set of evidence.

• Can they work out which part of the evidence they will be exploring today and
the significance of the 5 different puppets (to scale for the remaining suspects:
1cm = 10cm)?
• Go back through the witness statements about the shadows (evidence file from
Lesson 1) and note that one witness has said that they saw an odd shape on the
shadow, which they described as being the shape of a car ‘rear view’ mirror on a
stick, but are not sure.

• The Crime Lab would like children to see if this is a possible explanation as, if they
can, then this suggests that this is what was seen in the shadows - the Crime Lab
will investigate this further and get a search warrant issued if children think this is
the case.

• Once children have ascertained that it is possible to position a mirror in order to

see what is behind them, get them to explain how they positioned the suspected
mirror noted in the shadow and suggest why this would help our suspect. Explain
that they now need to investigate who might have cast the shadows.
• How could one person cast shadows of different lengths and definition? Ensure
understanding of the need for a light source and a 'block' to create the shadow.

• Ask children if they know what we call something that light cannot travel through
(opaque) as opposed to something that light can travel through, e.g. the windows
(transparent).

• Explain that something that is translucent allows some light through and will still
create shadows; clarify that a shadow is an absence of light.

• Show children 3 line graphs and get them to predict which one will be closest to
their results (see Resource Bank, Crime Lab Investigation, Lesson 3).
Children work in mixed ability groups.

Rear view mirror: challenge children to set up a mirror on a stick that can be
‘attached’ to them so that not only can they walk with it, but they can also see
behind them as they look forward.

Discuss the angle of the mirror, ensuring that the light will reflect from the mirror
into their eyes - this is a great opportunity to establish understanding of the
movement of light beams when they reflect.
Children work in mixed ability groups.

Shadow investigation: ensure each group has a set of shadow puppets and the
distances from the light source the suspect would have been on all three occasions
that they were spotted (see Crime Lab Investigation Lesson 3 in resource bank).
Clarify that something connected to the ground will meet its shadow (with a
person, at their feet) so we know the person was right by the feet of the shadow as
well as how far they were from the light source.
• Children devise a specific enquiry question, ensuring it is specific and can be
investigated, e.g. how long is the shadow cast from a given object at specific
distances from the light source?

• Children use the stick-note investigation method (see Crime Lab Investigation
Lesson 1 in resource bank) fully independently and record in their own table from
which they can create a line graph.

• Can children predict the length of all the suspect’s shadows from the first set of
readings? (If they work out the percentage increase of the shadow size from the
size of the person, they should be able to predict this fairly accurately. Offer a
‘margin of error’ of 10cm and work out which suspects they think the sightings
may relate to.

• Ask each group to have discounted, ‘beyond reasonable’ doubt, one of the
suspects (Craig Ray - 6ft 3).
• Share the suspect to be discounted and why.

• Explain their process of investigation and why accuracy was important when it
came to measuring the shadows. Were they right with their predicted line graph?
How would they describe the relationship between the position of the light
source and the size of the shadow?

• Note that this is a scientific pattern. Challenge children to suggest another

shadow investigation they could have carried out that related to the positioning
of the light source (e.g. would the angle or strength of the light change the
shadow?).