Predict Shadow Shapes

Bet you know all about shadows! You don't? Well, you've come to the right place - in this activity we'll have a look at the sort of shadows that different objects make and try to see how they're made.

It's good to think about what sort of shape an object is - when light (say from the Sun) hits that object (say a goalpost) it cannot get through. Instead the light bounces off.

That leaves an area on the ground which is dark because the goalpost blocked the light. That's the shadow.

What sort of shape would it be? For a goalpost, long and thin .... just like a goalpost!

The direction of light can distort (change) the shape of the shadow. It will still look something like the object, but it might look stretched or squashed.

Anyway, let's work through the questions and see how we get on.