An investigation of shadows (Christine)

The children had begun to do work with shadows right before I joined Terra Luz. Their silhouettes decorate the nap room door. After a long cold and rainy stretch, the sun is finally showing itself, the ground is drying up, and the air is beginning to warm up a bit. We took the opportunity to go outside and explore our shadows again.

In order to move this work forward, I first needed to know where the children were at. What did they know about shadows? I knew that they had associated it with their bodies since their shadows were outlined and we have read a few books about groundhogs and their shadows. I wondered: What kinds of things did the children think had shadows? What were their ideas about shadows? What were their theories about how shadows worked?

On Monday, I went out with Anika, Jalie, Damon, Eddie and Lucca. We first searched for shadows on the covered patio. After a little while without success, Anika ran to the grass, beyond the house's shadow. Eddie followed, and said, "Look! My shadow!" Anika said, "We need to be in the sun!"

I asked if anybody could find any other shadows.

Jalie: I found a shadow!
Christine: Whose shadow did you find?
Jalie: It's a log shadow!
Christine: How did you know it was a log shadow?
Jalie: Because the log was standing right there.

Damon: I chopped the shadow with my boot!
Christine: Which shadow?
Damon: The plant shadow.

Damon: I found a shadow! A slide shadow!
Eddie: I step on it!

Eddie and Lucca were happy to spend much of their time chasing each other's shadows and making their shadows jump.

Damon: Look everyone! It's a house shadow!

I asked if we could make our shadows disappear. Damon, while watching his shadow, backed up until his shadow was enveloped by the house's shadow. "It's gone guys! Can't find it!" I asked where the shadow went. Jalie said, "In the darkness." Damon agreed.

Tuesday, at morning gathering, Andrea asked the children what a shadow was. Here is what they came up with:

Anika: I saw shadows of a lion.
Mia G.: Is black
Jalie: It comes inside when you come inside and it goes outside when you go outside.
Alaira: They are black and so dark.

Later that morning, I went out with Alaira, Corbin, Natalie, Allie and Jason. We first looked on the patio.

Alaira: I don't see any.
Corbin and Allie echoed Alaira's thoughts.
Allie: There's no shadows. Oh! I see a little tiny shadow. A mouse shadow. (pointing to a space underneath the picnic table)

As we were running over to the playhouse to look for some shadows, Natalie shouted, "There's mine!"
Alaira: I see my shadow!
Corbin: I see my shadow!
We looked in the playhouse and Alaira told us, "I don't see any."

I wondered aloud whether we were the only ones with shadows. Did plants have shadows? Or trees?

Alaira: I see one! (pointing to the tree's shadow)
Allie: A tree!
Alaira: A tree shadow!
Allie: Oh! I see one! It's right here! It's a biiig shadow! (standing in the house's shadow)
Jason: My house!

Christine: Can you make your shadow hide? Can you make it disappear?
Alaira: You go into another shadow! (running into the house's shadow)

As Alaira and Jason were both standing next to each other on a slide, Alaira noticed: "Jason's a little bigger than me." Shortly after, she commented, "My shadow's littler than his!"

It appears that the children have a spectrum of understanding. Eddie knows he can make his shadow jump if he jumps. Anika understands that the sun makes shadows. Some of the children understand that shadows are matched to an object. Jalie seems to understand that a shadow follows someone. Alaira knows that shadows can be covered by another shadow, making it disappear.

Many of the children have also been talking about darkness and hiding as well - concepts that are related to shadow exploration. Although I am continuing to discover what the children know about shadows, I also want to figure out what they want to know about shadows. What are they interested in that may drive their investigation forward? Who has similar interests that I can group together to sustain their exploration?