Primary Science Beyond the Classroom
Lesson Plan
School and Class: Gilnahirk Primary School, P3
Team and Lesson Number:Team C Lesson number 3
Topic: Light - shadows
Date: 13th November 2008
Area(s) of Learning /Cross Curricular Skills/Thinking Skills and
Personal Capabilities
Thinking skills – these will be developed as the pupils participate in
the activities.
Communication (talking and listening) – pupils will improve
communication skills through group work.
ICT skills will be developed through use of the interactive
whiteboard.
How does this lesson relate to W5?
This lesson relates to W5 as it gives pupils a basic understanding of
shadows which will be built upon during their visit to W5.
Learning outcomes: The children will:
Recognise that a shadow forms when sunlight is blocked
Recognise that light from a range of sources produces shadows
Describe how the shape and the size of shadows varies with the
position of the light source
Develop the science enquiry skill of prediction.
Resources:
Introduction:
 Izzy and Skunk by Marie- Louise Fitzpatrick
 Puppet Skunk
 Laminated WALT and definition of the term shadow
Activities:
 Interactive whiteboard
 Blue Dragon DVD (Channel 4 learning resource)
 http://www.ngflcymru.org.uk/vtc/20050520/Science/Keystage2/
Physicalprocess/Shadows/Introduction/whitebrd1.htm
 http://www.ngflcymru.org.uk/vtc/Phase2delivery/Wales/Science/
Keystage1/Physicalprocess/Light/Introduction/pop.htm
 Shoe boxes
 Different shapes
 Play dough
 Torches
 Overhead projector
 Animal puppets
 Candle
 Lantern
 Electric lamp
 Sugar paper
 Cardboard
 Worksheets
Introduction:
The lesson will be introduced by reading the story “Issy and Skunk” and
the skunk puppet. The pupils will discuss the book, what they know about
lights and shadows and what they want to know about light and shadows.
I will demonstrate how shadows are formed using a comb and the
overhead objector. The pupils will discuss what they can see and how
shadows are formed.
I will explain the learning intentions of the lesson and ask the pupils to
describe how shadows are formed. A written definition of the term
shadows will be shown to the pupils.
Development:
The pupils will investigate shadows through four different activities.
They will investigate how shapes are formed and the different light
sources that form shadows. Pupils will experiment how to change the
colour and size of shadows and take part in a shadow puppet show.
They will use their ICT skills to identify light sources and make shadows.
The pupils will identify different shadows that objects make.
To consolidate their learning the pupils will complete a worksheet on
shadows.
Activities
Activity 1 Interactive whiteboard – the pupils will watch part one of the
Blue Dragon DVD on the topic of shadows. Play interactive whiteboard
game to identify light sources and explore what happens to shadows when
lights sources are moved closer or further away.
Activity 2 Shadow boxes – the pupils will look through one end of a shoe
box with a touch and describe the shadows that different shapes make.
The pupils will have the opportunity to make their own play dough shapes
and look at what shadows are formed.
Activity 3 Shadow Puppets – different objects will be placed on the
overhead projector and the pupils will try to identify the objects from
their shadows.
Activity 4 Light Sources – the pupils will observe different light sources
and examine the shadows that are formed. The pupils will outline the
shadows formed and then move the light source and examine what
happens to the shadow.
Classroom organisation:
The lesson will begin with the pupils listening to the story on the carpet in
the reading corner. As a whole class I will demonstrate how shadows are
formed and discuss the learning intentions for the lesson. The pupils will
be divided into 4 groups of 7 children. Each group will take part in four
different activities. The pupils will gather together on the carpet for the
conclusion of the lesson.
Conclusion of lesson
The pupils will conclude the lesson together. They will discuss the four
different activities and what they learnt. I will ask the pupils to give me
thumbs ups or down, on whether they understand shadows. Finally I will
refer back to the story and ask the pupils should Izzy be afraid of
shadows.
Monitoring and Evaluating
During the introduction and conclusion I will evaluate the pupils by
listening to the verbal responses to key questions. I and the team will
monitor the pupils as they carry out the different activities to assess
their understanding.
The worksheet will allow me to evaluate if pupils have grasped the key
concept of the lesson, shadows. The layout of the worksheet will allow me
to assess the pupils understanding and if they have any misconceptions.
Approach adopted to team teaching:
In this lesson the approach adopted to team teaching was I took the lead
in the lesson by introducing and concluding the lesson. During the main
part of the lesson there were four activities and I and the other three
team members supervised one activity each.
Lesson Evaluation
Were the learning objectives met? How do I know?
Recognise that a shadow forms when sunlight is blocked. This
objective was met as all pupils were able to verbally define a
shadow throughout the lesson.
Recognise that light from a range of sources produces shadows.
During activity four I observed the pupils making shadows with a
variety of light sources. All pupils were able to report back to me
that all light sources make shadows. Some pupils were able to
conclude that stronger the light sources produce darker, more
clearly defined shadows.
Describe how the shape and the size of shadows vary with the
position of the light source. Heather supervised the interactive
whiteboard activity and reported back that all pupils observed that
moving the torch changed the size of the shadow. Emma Jane
supervised the shadow box activity and reported back that the
pupils realised after experimenting that the shadow is always the
same shape as the object.
Develop the science enquiry skill of prediction. In my activity the
pupils predicted what would happen to the shadow if you moved the
light source.
When concluding the lesson the pupils demonstrated that they had met
the learning intentions by the feedback they were giving Skunk on their
investigations.
What might I have changed?
I would change the organization of the activities because Heather
reported that both groups at the front of the classroom were watching
the white board instead of just her group. In future I would use the
interactive whiteboard activity as a whole class activity.
The pupils did not have enough time to make a written recording of their
findings due to a lack of time. By removing the interactive white board as
a group activity in future, that will leave more time for the children to
complete their worksheets on shadows.
Did the team teaching approach work? How?
The team teaching approach was very successful as it allowed the pupils
to take part in lots of activities in one lesson. At each activity the pupils
remained on task because team teaching allowed each activity to be
supervised.
Team teaching allowed us to plan and share ideas about each of the
lessons. I found this a great resource as we all have different ideas and
experiences. Planning also made each of us aware of what we wanted the
pupils to achieve from the lesson and we all drew this out when
supervising the activities.