The Science of Shadows (Unit Study)

Hello my friends!

For the past week I’ve been hard at work putting together a special subscribers only resource page.  I always thought it would be nice to reward my subscribers with something special and original and now I finally launched it!  For starters I put together the first in a series of unit studies for your Summer Science Camp and this is just the beginning!  

 

My family had a lot of fun with this unit study and I hope you will too.  Apart from a few templates or science pages you might decide to print out, all the experiments and activities use everyday materials that you probably already have in your house.  

 

 

The Science of Shadows

Outline of the unit

• The big idea: what is shadow
• Books to share
• Videos to share
• Songs and Poems to share
• Work stations

           * Exploration station 1 – Shadow Play

 

 

           * Exploration station 2 – Introduction to Diffraction

 

 

 

• The science of shadows

            * Experiment 1: Sun and Shadow: LEGO man in the sun

 

            * Experiment 2: Does everything has a shadow

 

 

 

            * Experiment 3: Shifty Shadow Shapes

            * Experiment 4 : Shadow Walk (nature fun)

• Additional Shadow Activities

            * Capturing Shadows

 

            * Shadow Puppet Show

 

            * Hangman

            * Silhouette drawing

 

            * Sundial

            * Art connection

            * Writing connection

            * Shadow Tag

 

I designed this unit for children aged 4-9.  Depending on developmental differences and individual preferences some activities might be more suitable for you and your family than others.  You can always modify activities to better suit your needs.   

 

Look through the outline and jot down a sample schedule, choose books to order from a library and make a list of other necessary supplies (i.e. flashlight, paper, etc).  Cross out what is done as you move along.  It will create a sense of accomplishment and will be a visual guide to how hard you worked.  Older kids can create a portfolio to record all the activities related to this topic.  

 

I tried to have as much work done for you as possible by providing complete descriptions and printables, but sometimes you would need to click a link and get more detailed instructions or templates on a different blog.  

At the start, I envisioned a virtual summer camp with weekly schedule filled with science activities, outdoor projects, and art ideas that teaches, entertains and stimulates critical thinking, problem solving and encourages creativity.   Believe me when I tell you that my brain is just about filled to exploding level with ideas!  The only problem, as always, is time!  Even though, I love nothing more than putting together unit studies, I homeschool my kids and it takes a lot of time.  I also looked at my schedule and realized I have 9 posts that I committed myself to in the next 30 days.  So, I think the weekly Science Camp guide will have to wait till next summer, for now I hope to offer you a monthly unit study that can be done in a week or two.  

 

If you are already a subscriber I will send you an email that will direct you to this new permanent FREE resource library that is reserved to subscribers and is password protected. Once you enter the password you will get an instant access to the19-page pdf of the unit study on Shadows.  I have two versions: one is text only and the other one includes photographs.  Pick the one that works better for you.  

 

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