Year 3: Light
Light
Curriculum Requirement
- Recognise that they need light in order to see things and that dark is the absence of light
- Notice that light is reflected from surfaces
- Recognise that light from the sun can be dangerous and that there are ways to protect their eyes
- Recognise that shadows are formed when the light from a light source is blocked by an opaque object
- Find patterns in the way that the size of shadows change
Pupils should explore what happens when light reflects off a mirror or other reflective surfaces, including playing mirror games to help them to answer questions about how light behaves. They should think about why it is important to protect their eyes from bright lights. They should look for, and measure, shadows, and find out how they are formed and what might cause the shadows to change.
Note: Pupils should be warned that it is not safe to look directly at the Sun, even when wearing dark glasses.
Pupils might work scientifically by: looking for patterns in what happens to shadows when the light source moves or the distance between the light source and the object changes.
National Curriculum in England: primary curriculum, Section: "Light", p. 159.
Light and Dark
Have you ever been in a room when the lights are turned off? It's hard to see anything! We need light to see the world around us. Darkness is just what we call a place where there is no light.
Light Sources and Reflectors
The Sun
The Sun is our main source of natural light. It is a star, which is a giant ball of very hot gas that makes its own light.
The sun lights up our planet during the day, keeps us warm, and provides energy for plants to grow.
đĄ Fun Facts
- The Sun is so big that you could fit one million Earths inside it!
- The light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes to travel all the way to Earth.
- You must never look directly at the Sun as its powerful light can seriously hurt your eyes. Always wear sunglasses on bright days to protect them.
The Moon
The Moon can look very bright in the night sky, but it doesn't make its own light. It acts like a giant mirror.
The moon reflects light from the Sun down to Earth, which is why we can see it at night.
đĄ Fun Facts
- The light we see from the Moon is actually secondhand sunshine!
- The different shapes of the Moon we see, called phases, are caused by the different angles we see the sunlit part of the Moon from Earth. The dark part of the moon is actually the shadow of the earth.
- Sometimes, you can even spot the pale Moon in the sky during the daytime.
- Moths evolved to use the Moon as a navigational reference point. By keeping the distant Moon at a constant angle to their eye, they can fly in a straight line.
Reflections
When light hits a shiny or smooth surface, like a mirror or a puddle, it bounces off. This is called reflection. When the light bounces into our eyes, we see an image of what is in front of the surface.
Nature Examples
A Calm River
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When water is very still, its surface is smooth and flat, which means it can act like a mirror and show a clear reflection.
How to see it:
Look into a river or a puddle on a day when there is no wind. You can see a reflection of the sky, clouds, and buildings around it.
đĄ Fun Facts
- The smoother the surface of the water, the clearer and sharper the reflection will be.
- If the wind blows and makes ripples, the reflection gets wobbly and distorted because the light is bouncing off in lots of different directions.
- The famous landmark Stonehenge was built near the River Avon, and some people think it was positioned to create beautiful reflections in the water.
Shadows
A shadow is a dark area made when an object blocks the path of light from a light source, like the sun or a torch. The object must be opaque, which means light cannot pass through it.
Nature Examples
Your Own Shadow
Your body is opaque (you can't see through it), so when you stand in the sunshine, you block the light and make a shadow on the ground.
How to see it:
Go outside on a sunny day and look at the ground behind you. You will see a dark shape that looks just like you!
đĄ Fun Facts
- Your shadow changes its size and position during the day because the Sun moves across the sky.
- At midday, when the Sun is highest in the sky, your shadow is very short.
- In the early morning and late evening, when the Sun is low in the sky, your shadow is very long and stretched out.
Our world is always spinning around, a bit like a roundabout. When our part of the world faces the sun, it's bright daytime. When it spins away from the sun, it becomes dark nighttime.
This pattern splits animals into two big teams.
Daytime animals, like birds and squirrels, are busy when it's light.
Night-time animals, like hedgehogs and foxes, come out when it's dark. This is their clever plan to stay safe from daytime hunters or to keep cool on a hot day.
But is the night always just as dark? Nope! Think of the moon as a night-light for the Earth. Some nights it's very bright (a full moon), and other nights you can hardly see it (a new moon).
This changing moonlight is super important for the animals' big game of hide-and-seek.
On a bright, full moon night, it might be easier for an owl to spot a mouse on the ground.
But on a very dark night, it's the perfect cover for a fox to sneak up on its dinner without being seen!
So, night-time animals have to pay attention to the dark and how much light the moon is giving them to stay safe and find food.
Hedgehog
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A familiar spiny mammal that is nocturnal, meaning it sleeps all day and comes out at night when the Moon is in the sky. It uses the darkness to stay hidden from predators like badgers and foxes.
How to spot them:
Listen for snuffling and rustling sounds in bushes or undergrowth in your garden after the sun has gone down.
đĄ Fun Facts
- A hedgehog is a gardener's friend because it loves to eat slugs, snails, and insects that might damage plants.
- When it's scared, it can roll up into a tight ball of over 5,000 spines to protect itself.
- They hibernate through the winter in a cosy nest of leaves and log piles called a 'hibernaculum'.
Beaver
Beavers are mostly nocturnal and are famous 'eco-engineers'. They spend their nights felling trees with their powerful teeth to build dams across rivers.
Why they are important:
Their dams create new ponds and wetlands, which become amazing habitats for other wildlife like frogs, dragonflies, and water birds.
đĄ Fun Facts
- Beavers were hunted to extinction in the UK over 400 years ago, but are now being carefully reintroduced to some rivers.
- Their front teeth are orange because they contain iron, which makes them extra strong for chewing through wood.
- A beaver's tail is flat and scaly and can be slapped on the water's surface as a loud warning signal to other beavers.
Otter
Otters are playful and secretive mammals that live along our rivers and coastlines. They are often most active at dawn and dusk, or during the night, using their excellent sense of smell and long whiskers to hunt for fish in the dark.
How to spot signs:
Look for their five-toed footprints in muddy riverbanks and for their poo, called 'spraint', which is full of fish bones and has a surprisingly sweet smell, a bit like jasmine tea!
đĄ Fun Facts
- Otters have the densest fur of any animal in the world, with up to a million hairs per square inch to keep them warm in cold water.
- They can close their ears and nostrils when they dive underwater.
- Otters live in underground dens called 'holts', which often have an underwater entrance.
Fox
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The Red Fox is a common night-time hunter that is very clever and adaptable, living in our countryside, towns, and even big cities. It uses the cover of darkness to search for food and is often most active at dusk and dawn.
How to spot signs:
At night, listen for their strange, high-pitched scream or bark. In mud or snow, look for their footprints â they look like a small dog's, but are narrower and more oval-shaped.
đĄ Fun Facts
- A fox's hearing is so good it can hear a mouse squeak from 100 metres away, helping it to hunt in the dark.
- They are omnivores, which means they eat almost anything, from earthworms and beetles to fruit and berries, and leftover food from our bins!
- Foxes live in underground dens called 'earths', which they sometimes dig under garden sheds.
Activities & Reflections
Activities
Shadow Puppets
In a darkened room, use a torch as a light source. Pupils can use their hands to make shapes between the torch and a wall to create shadow puppets. Ask them what happens to the shadow when they move their hands closer to or further from the torch.
Make a Human Sundial
On a sunny day, take the pupils out into the playground. Have one pupil stand in the same spot while another draws around their shadow with chalk every hour. This shows how shadows move and change length as the Sun's position changes.
Mirror Messages
Give pupils small mirrors and ask them to try and write a simple secret message that can only be read by looking at its reflection in the mirror. This is a fun way to explore how mirrors reverse images.
Reflections
Self-Reflection (Exit Ticket)
On a piece of paper, ask pupils to draw a picture showing how a shadow is made. They should include a light source, an opaque object, and the shadow itself.
Paired Reflection (Think-Pair-Share)
Ask pupils to discuss with a partner: If you are in a completely dark room with no windows, why can't you see your hand in front of your face?
Group Reflection
In small groups, pupils can discuss: Name three things in the classroom that are shiny and reflect light well, and three things that are dull and do not reflect light well.
Whole Class Share-Out
As a class, discuss: Why is it important to wear sunglasses or a hat on a very sunny day? What are we protecting?
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