A hands-on STEM buddy for the Light and Shadows breakout. Use a flashlight to make shadows, change their size, and make a shadow puppet.
🎯 The problem
Can you make a shadow — and change it? Use a flashlight and your hands or a paper shape to make shadows on the wall. Then make them bigger and smaller!
Big question: What do you need to make a shadow, and how can you change its size?
🧰 What you need
A flashlight (or a sunny window)
A blank wall or a white paper "screen"
Your hands, and a paper shape on a craft stick to make a puppet
⚠️ Safety: never shine a light right into anyone's eyes.
🔁 Be an engineer
Ask: How can I make a shadow on the wall?
Try: Shine the flashlight at the wall. Put your hand in the way — a shadow!
Change it: Move your hand closer to the light. Does the shadow get bigger or smaller?
Build: Make a shadow puppet from a paper shape on a stick.
Show: Put on a little shadow show for a friend.
Talk: What did you need to make the shadow?
🗣️ Tell about it
What did you need to make a shadow?
How did you make the shadow bigger? (Try the words light and shadow.)
🔦 Meet a STEM job — Lighting Designer. Some engineers design the lights for stages, movies, and buildings. They use light and shadow to make things look just right — just like your shadow show! (Kindergarten idea: light helps us see, and blocking it makes shadows.)
TEKS for this challenge
K.8(A) we see objects only with light · K.8(B) light is blocked, making shadows · K.1(B) try a simple investigation · K.1(G) make a model. Aligned to, not reproduced from, the official TEKS — confirm before adoption.