Making Shadows

Time Required for Prep: 15–20 minutes

1. Prepare Shadow Mission Cards

• Print and cut out the Shadow Mission Cards before class.
• Decide whether students will:
  • Choose their own card, or
  • Be assigned a card based on difficulty.
• Consider organizing cards by difficulty level:
  • 1 — Beginner
  • 2 — Intermediate
  • 3 — Advanced

2. Prepare Student Groups

• Decide whether students will work:
  • Independently, or
  • In pairs to design and build one Shadow Maker together.
• Pairs work well because students can collaborate while planning, building, and testing their designs.

3. Print Student Materials

• Print the following materials before class:
  • Shadow Mission Card (1 per student or pair)
  • Planning Sheet (1 per student)
  • Assessment (1 per student)

4. Gather Building Materials

• For each student or pair, prepare:
  • Cardboard
  • Paper for templates
  • 1 ChompSaw
  • Glue stick
  • Tape
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Flashlights (shared or one per testing station)
• Optional — for the material investigation, gather a variety of materials:
  • Cardboard
  • Clear plastic
  • Tissue paper
  • Wax paper
  • Mesh or screen
  • Fabric

5. Prepare the Shadow Theater

• Before class:
  • Cut a large viewing window into a cardboard box.
  • Cover the opening with parchment paper or white tissue paper.
  • Position a flashlight behind the screen so students can project their shadows.
  • Test the setup to make sure shadows are clear and easy for the class to see.
• If a Shadow Theater is not available, students may project shadows onto a blank wall or white screen in a darkened room.

6. Check Technology

• Before class:
  • Open the slide deck and test all animations.
  • Confirm that any videos or interactive elements play correctly.
  • Test the document camera (if using one) for the shadow demonstrations.
  • Make sure the classroom lights can be dimmed enough for students to clearly observe shadows.

7. Review Lesson Timing

• The building and testing portion requires approximately 45–60 minutes.
• If your schedule is limited:
  • Complete the Explore and Plan sections during one class period.
  • Finish building and the Shadow Showcase during a second class period.
  • This allows students more time to refine their designs and produce clearer, more recognizable shadows.

Shadow Story Theater

• Students create two or three cardboard objects that work together to tell a short story using shadows.
  • Students must:
    • plan a story with a beginning, middle, and end
    • build a cardboard object for each part of the story
    • perform their shadow story for classmates using the Shadow Theater

Giant Shadows Outdoors

• Take the lesson outside and use the sun instead of a flashlight to investigate shadows.
  • Questions to explore:
    • Does your cardboard shadow change if you move farther away from the ground?
    • What happens to your shadow at different times of day?
  • Students must:
    • compare their indoor and outdoor shadows
    • record what they notice about how the shadow changes

Reverse Engineer

• Show students only a shadow — their challenge is to build the object they think could have made it.
  • Students must:
    • plan and build an object they think matches the mystery shadow
    • test their creation in the Shadow Theater
  • After everyone builds, discuss:
    • How were the different solutions the same?
    • How were they different?
    • Why did more than one solution work?