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Shadow Math

After reading the poem 8 A.M. Shadows by Patricia Hubbell in the book Sing a Song of Popcorn, we were inspired to measure shadows for math. We actually ended up doing more math that I thought we would.

First my son made a chart to record the lengh of his shadow each hour throughout the day. He set his alarm clock each hour as a reminder, but something happended at 3:30 and the shadow length was not measured. This actually ended up being a really good thing.

I helped him make a line graph of his data, and then he estimated what his shadow length would have been at 3:30. In the morning the following day he figured out how many hours and minutes 3:30 was from the current time and set his alarm clock. At 3:30 he measured his shadow length and compared the result with his estimate. This simple project ended up being very fun and educational for him.






This post is linked to: 
Hip Homeschool Hop
Montessori Monday
Relentlessly Fun

9 comments:

  1. UnknownApril 1, 2012 at 11:49 AM

    fabulous idea ;)

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  2. AmyApril 1, 2012 at 3:31 PM

    The best way to do math for sure! Looks like so much fun.:-) My eldest son does something similar when he studies certain weather patterns. During Tropical Storm Irene he was taking barometer measurements every hour on the hour, recording rain fall amounts, wind speed etc.

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  3. Mary PratherApril 2, 2012 at 4:37 PM

    Great idea! I'm going to use this!

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  4. AnonymousApril 4, 2012 at 6:32 PM

    this is great! i love this! thank you for linking up!!

    I am pinning this!

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  5. SparkleeApril 8, 2012 at 11:33 PM

    Fun idea! Will have to try this!

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  6. Rebecca EnglishFebruary 2, 2013 at 3:34 PM

    I love how event he bit which went wrong became a teaching point. A fantastic activity! love it!

    Just thought you'd like to know I've featured it on The Sunday Showcase: http://www.herecomethegirlsblog.com/2013/02/02/the-sunday-showcase-maths-activities.html

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  7. Natalie PlanetSmartySeptember 21, 2013 at 11:06 PM

    Great idea! Thanks for sharing with Afterschool!

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  8. Deceptively EducationalSeptember 22, 2013 at 11:38 PM

    My son would LOVE this! Thanks for sharing at the After School Linky Party. I'm featuring it tomorrow on my blog!

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  9. LucindaOctober 5, 2013 at 11:56 AM

    I've often thought of doing this but not got around to it. Thanks for the reminder! Lucinda (better do it quick before the sun disappears from England!)

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