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On a sunny day, have you ever played a game outside with someone where you try to jump on each other’s shadow?
Do you know how a shadow is made?
A shadow is made when an object blocks out a bright light, such as the sun, a torch or a streetlight.
When you stand outside on a sunny day, your body blocks out some of the sunlight from reaching the ground.
Light travels in a straight line. It cannot bend very well around you.
Your shadow is the dark area on the ground in the shape of your body.
It is dark because it is a space where light can’t reach.
Have you noticed that your shadow can change size?
Sometimes it looks long, other times it looks short and sometimes it has almost disappeared.
Your shadow will be long at this time of the day.
It depends on where the sun appears in the sky.
Early in the morning the sun appears low in the sky.
Your shadow is the shortest at this time of day.
By noon, in the middle of the day, the sun appears almost directly overhead.
The same pattern happens in the afternoon.
Your shadow gradually gets longer as it gets later in the afternoon and the sun appears lower in the sky.
Did you know it is not the sun that moves across the sky during the day?
It is the Earth that moves.
The Earth rotates (spins) once every 24 hours.
Because it is spinning, it makes the sun appear to move.
If you are standing sideways, your shadow will be to one side.
If your left side is facing the sun, your shadow is on your right.
If your right side is facing the sun, your shadow is on your left.
Go outside at different times of the day and check these facts for yourself!
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