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← Little Scientists ScienceThe Sun and shadows15 minutesStd 1–2

Chasing My Shadow

✨ Your own shadow is taller than you in the morning and shrinks to a stub by the middle of the day.

A child standing on one spot with the Sun low in the morning making a long shadow one way, high at midday making a short shadow, and low in the afternoon making a long shadow the other way.
How it works

🧰 You need

  • chalk
  • a sunny open floor or yard
  • a friend to trace for you
  • a clock or a phone
  • a piece of string

⚠️ Never look straight at the Sun.

👀 What you will see

The morning shadow is long and points one way. The midday shadow is short. The afternoon shadow is long again but points the other way, so the shadow has swung round the X like a hand on a clock.

🧪 Do it

  1. Draw a big X on the ground in the morning and stand on it facing the same way each time.
  2. Ask your friend to trace round your shadow with chalk and write the time beside it.
  3. Come back at the middle of the day, stand on the same X, and trace again.
  4. Come back once more in the late afternoon and trace a third shadow.
  5. Measure each shadow with the string and cut a piece to match.
  6. Line up the three string pieces shortest to longest and talk about what changed.

💡 Why it happens

Your body blocks sunlight, and the dark patch behind you is the shadow. The Sun seems to move across the sky because the Earth is spinning, turning once a day on a line through its middle called its axis. When the Sun is low in the sky, light comes in sideways and your shadow stretches out long. When the Sun is high, the light comes from nearly above you, so your shadow is short. People once told the time this way, with sundials.

🔁 Now try this

Trace your shadow at the same three times again a month later and compare the string lengths with the first set.

🤔 Think about it

Where would your shadow be if the Sun were exactly above your head?

🧘 Ask the Acharya

“Where would your shadow be if the Sun were exactly above your head?” — ask him and he will explain it from your own chapters.

Ask Guru →

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Ask GuruAcharya Samayeshwar