The topic I would be excited to try in my classroom is the sun and shadows. From the many experiments and examples given here I think that a whole unit of learning across a few weeks could be explored.
1. Explore how the sunlight creates shadows. To begin I would bring the children outside to view and explore their own shadow. I would prompt them to see does changing there position change anything about the shadow and compare shadow with a partner etc. Working together trace the shadow of their partner, do they all point the same direction or in different ways? Discuss what this might tell us about the suns light.
2. Create our own shadows in the classroom using a lamp/torch. Working in groups to share resources the children will use models of a simple landscape with a light source as the sun to create their own shadows. When they move the light how do the shadows change? do all the shadows behave the same way? etc. We will add what we noticed to what we observed with our own shadows and discuss any similarities or differences and what we think this means.
3. Using Frances’s simple sundial experiment to conclude. Setting up a flowerpot and piece of bamboo to create a simple sundial in a sunny place. Every hour the class would mark the position of the shadow with some chalk. At the end of the school day we would take note of how the shadow had moved and changed during the day.
I think these lessons would also connect really nicely into lessons on the spherical earth, and a lesson on night and day would tie them all together.
I like how these lessons don’t require a huge amount of resources, particularly if done in small groups with peers when appropriate.