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Plan how your students could “observe and record the positions of the sun when rising and setting and at different times of the day”
To help students observe and record the position of the Sun throughout the day, I would begin by using a tall, fixed object such as a bollard, stake or basketball pole in a sunny area of the school yard. In the morning, pupils would trace the object’s shadow with chalk and repeat this activity before home time. This would encourage discussion about why the shadow changes position and length during the day. The following day, pupils would work in pairs to trace each other’s outlines on the yard. They would then predict where their shadows would be at the end of the day by drawing them in a different colour of chalk before returning later to compare their predictions with the actual shadows. To extend this investigation, we could repeat the activity at different times of the year using a permanent sundial structure, allowing pupils to explore how the Earth’s tilt and changing seasons affect the Sun’s apparent path and shadow lengths.
