ABSTRACT
In this chapter children explore making shadows on a sunny day and use natural materials to give human shadows faces. A shadow is made when an opaque object blocks light. The light cannot pass through the object and therefore the area behind the object is dark, hence the shadow. A transparent object will not make a shadow, because light can pass through it, so there is no dark area shadow. A translucent object can make a faint shadow. Key language that children should be encouraged to use when explaining how shadows are made includes: light, translucent, opaque, blocked, straight lines, light rays, dark. Children use different ways of constructing sentences and think about the effect on the character, setting and plot in order to develop suspense and surprise in their writing. Photographs could be taken to record and 'freeze frame' the body shapes with their associated shadows.
