Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Reflecting on Light

As we gathered for meeting today, children started talking about light before the teachers could even ask questions about the topic.  They have clearly been thinking about light, shadows, and reflections.  
   Grace M.  - I saw light at my house last night.  Light is a kind of reflection and you can see shadow.  If it's a little bit of light, you can see a little bit of your shadow moving, but with a bigger light you can see your whole body (in shadow).  And I think like how light works is it gets very hot.  And sun is very bright.
     Austin - So, if there's a bunch of light, the light gets on top of you and makes a shadow.
    Lou Lou - At Gibson Island , every night I can see the sunset.
    Jessica - Do you know where the sunset is?
    Lou Lou - It's not close, it's on the different ground.  
    Jessica  - Do you see the sunrise?
    Lou Lou - I see both of them.  My sister watches the sunset and I watch the sunrise.
    Jessica - Where do you see the sunrise?
    Lou Lou - It's somewhere else.
    Evelyn - Some thing makes the sun brighter and you can see the shadow, but if you can't see your shadow, it's okay, you can get a spotlight
     Lou Lou - You could bring a flashlight.
    Sally - When the sun is out you can see your shadow, but if you get in the darkness, you can't see your shadow.  If you get close to your shadow, your shadow disappears. 
     Grace D. - When you're walking  on the sidewalk, you can see your shadow moving to different places.
     Austin - You can never outrun your shadow.
     Lou Lou - It will follow you.
    Grace D. - (Continuing her idea about the shadow moving on the side walk) .... but only when you're outside.   
    Austin - If it's sunny, you can see your shadow.
    Lou Lou - But if you turn on a flashlight, you can see your shadow.  
    Sam - When I'm walking in the darkness, I can see my shadow... the shadow was walking toward the door and I was walking toward the window.     

There's so many ideas expressed in this conversation:  the different types of light, the locations of light, when and how shadows exist, and the ways in which shadows move.  The children once again have given us plenty of ideas to consider in the days and weeks to come.

A Shadow Challenge

It was only fitting that the children were talking about shadows during meeting.  One of our plans was to work with shadows and construction!  On October 22nd, the children made a building that created a shadow.  At that time, we challenged them to trace the shadow of the building on white paper.   Today we extended that challenge.  We brought the paper back, and asked them to  make a building to match the shadow they had previously drawn!

The building and shadow created on October 22nd.

The children were quite successful as they built something very similar to the structure they previously built. They consulted the image from October 22nd as they built and were able to get the shadows to line up with their drawings.  At one point, Austin said, "Something looks weird."  He felt that the light source was not where it had been before, so he adjusted the projector to solve the problem.   There was so much good thinking and collaboration throughout this process.

Finding Light, Continued

Today, two more small groups went out in search of light and took photographs of the light that they discovered.   Joslin and Grace M. took off first.  Joslin said, "I want to go to Molly's office."  From here, Joslin indicated that she needed a light to shine in a dark place in the bell tower.  They used the flashlight form Jessica's phone.  After exploring the attic area leading to the bell tower, Joslin and Grace used a light to shine in other dark places.  At one point, Joslin asked to shine the light on some glasses that were left in the church.  "That's perfect," said Jossie, as she snapped a photo.  Looking at the stained glass windows, Grace said, "That's God."   The girls also ventured outside, where Grace noted, "I will take a picture of the shadow."   

A few of Grace's Photos

A few of Joslin's photos

The second group to search for light was Evelyn and Sally.  As they took photos, they learned to focus using a tap on the iPad screen.  Evelyn and Sally noticed reflection as they looked for light.  At one point, ​Sally said, "Look at these bells. there is light.  When you put it near the light, the light goes on the bowl (the rounded part of the metal)."

A few of Evelyn's photos

A few of Sally's photos

Lunch and Invitations

At today's meeting, we read a lovely message from Rachael.  She said that she had really enjoyed having lunch in KW and hoped that she would be able to come again some time.  The group decided that it was a good idea to let teachers know that they can always join us for lunch.  Children spent time today spreading the word  through one of their favorite experiences: message making.  Children also enthusiastically made messages for their friends and family members as well. Our luncheon guest today was Jessica Kuhn.  We had a terrific time talking about the book fair, siblings, and Halloween candy.  More visitors are certain to join us in the future!