Year six have been investigating shadows during their science lessons this week. They have discovered that the closer an opaque object is to the source of light, the bigger the shadow is. They also found out that by changing the angle of the source of light resulted in the shadow moving and either lengthening or becoming shorter.

They also had a real life problem to solve… They had to imagine that they were the owners of a new hotel, with a beautiful swimming pool. They needed to position some parasols around the pool area to provide shade for the sun loungers during the hottest part of the day.  The children drew the compass points on their swimming pool plan and then simulated the sun, by holding a torch and making an arc, moving it from East to West.

They then added drinks umbrellas to their plan and attached them with blue-tac, they could then see the shadows that would be cast by the parasols. They had to ensure the most shadow coverage over the loungers during the hottest part of the day. They then drew on the plan where they would position their loungers.