• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Day and night; The Sun's path across the sky in a day). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. What causes day and night? (the Moon blocking the Sun / clouds covering the sky / the Earth spinning on its axis / the Sun moving around the Earth) → the Earth spinning on its axisPrompt: Half the Earth faces the Sun at any time.
2. The Sun rises at 06:15 and sets at 17:15. How many hours of daylight are there? Give your answer in hours as a decimal (e.g. 12.5). → 11 hPrompt: Count the whole hours first, then the extra minutes.
3. When it is daytime in the UK, it is night-time in… (New Zealand / Spain / Ireland / France) → New ZealandPrompt: Which place is on the opposite side of the world?

• Ask why we see the Moon change shape over a month.
• Share the objective: Shadow length and direction through the day. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: At midday in summer, shadows are shorter than at midday in winter. Why?
• Step 1: A higher Sun casts shorter shadows.
• Step 2: So the answer is: The Sun climbs higher in the sky in summer.
• Answer: The Sun climbs higher in the sky in summer.
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Why do shadows change length during the day? (Earth spins, so the Sun's height in the sky changes. / Objects grow during the day. / Clouds stretch the shadows. / The Sun gets bigger at noon.) → Earth spins, so the Sun's height in the sky changes.Prompt: When the light comes from low down, what happens to the shadow?
2. People once used shadow sticks (sundials) to tell the time. Why did this work? (Shadows only appear on the hour. / The stick knew the time. / The Sun stops every hour. / The shadow moves in a regular pattern as Earth turns.) → The shadow moves in a regular pattern as Earth turns.Prompt: Does the shadow move the same way every sunny day?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 7 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Why do shadows change length during the day? (Earth spins, so the Sun's height in the sky changes. / Objects grow during the day. / Clouds stretch the shadows. / The Sun gets bigger at noon.) → Earth spins, so the Sun's height in the sky changes.Prompt: When the light comes from low down, what happens to the shadow?
2. In the morning the Sun is in the east. Which way does a tree's shadow point? (straight up / east / west / it has no shadow) → westPrompt: Shadows point away from the light source.

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-5.