Shadows & Percent Grids

Overview

Lesson 13 continues the “Gothic Adventure Project” by linking light/shadow science to the Red Orb Shop mission storyline. Students investigate how light travels and how shadows form, then introduce percentages as “parts of 100” to prepare for future Red Orb discounts.

Learning intentions

• Students will investigate light travel, reflection, and shadow changes using torches, mirrors, and paper.
• Students will explain how shadows move when light source position changes.
• Students will understand percentages as parts of 100 and use simple percentage thinking in a discount context.
• Students will practise scientific vocabulary in correct spelling and use it in a short light-haiku.

Success criteria

• I can predict how a shadow will change when I move the torch or mirror.
• I can explain light direction and shadow formation using science words (light source, mirror, reflection, shadow, opaque).
• I can show a percentage on a 100-grid and describe it as “__ out of 100”.
• I can write a short haiku about light, including one percentage idea (e.g., 25% = 25/100).

Curriculum links

• English (Literature): create and edit literary texts that adapt characters/settings/ideas and experiment with literary devices during craft time.
• English (Literacy): use comprehension strategies such as visualising, predicting, questioning to build literal and inferred meaning during investigation notes and discussion.
• English (Literacy): use interaction skills and awareness of formality when paraphrasing, questioning, clarifying, and sharing ideas.
• English (Language): understand cohesion through repetition and word associations (use repeated science word banks across tasks).
• Mathematics/Science-lite alignment: percentages as parts of 100 (contextualised in Red Orb discounts).
• Science investigation skills: making predictions, observing, recording evidence, and explaining results using scientific vocabulary.

Lesson structure (60 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Mission hook (Red Orb Shop). Teacher shows a quick “castle corridor light” image: a torch beam hitting a mirror then creating a moving shadow on a wall. Students chorally repeat 4 key words from a word bank. Students: choose an “Orb rank” (Red Orb Apprentice / Shadow Scout) card and state one prediction: “If I move the torch, my shadow will…”.

2. 5–12 min · Mini teach: how light works. Teacher models with a torch + mirror diagram (simple arrows). Explain: light travels in straight lines; mirrors reflect; shadows form when light is blocked by an opaque object. Students: complete a 3-box prediction sheet (“Before / Prediction / After”) using sentence starters and a visual sketch.

3. 12–26 min · Experiment burst 1: Torch + opaque card. Teacher sets up stations and demonstrates safety (no pointing at eyes). Students (pair or one helper, depending on needs):

• Place “castle wall” paper screen (tracing paper or white A4) on table.
• Position opaque cut-out (castle gate).
• Move torch slowly: record shadow size/position with quick labels (small/medium/large; left/centre/right).
• Use a checkbox tally: “I observed reflection?” (should be no for this step) and “Shadow changed?” (yes).

4. 26–39 min · Experiment burst 2: Mirror reflection. Teacher shows how mirror angle changes beam direction; repeat the vocabulary with gestures. Students:

• Add mirror (small craft mirror or foil-backed cardboard).
• Predict where the bright spot and shadow edge will move.
• Record one “Because…” explanation (one sentence only): “Because light reflects off the mirror, the shadow…”.

5. 39–48 min · Percentage introduction with visual 100-grids. Teacher introduces: “Percent means out of 100.” Show a 10×10 grid and shade examples: 25%, 50%, 10%. Students: use the “Red Orb discount grid” printable (pre-drawn 100 squares).

• Starter: Shade 25% (25 squares) and say it aloud: “25% is 25 out of 100.”
• Apply to a shop prompt: “A potion costs 100 Orbs. 25% off means you pay 75 Orbs.” (Students show the shaded/or unshaded part.)

6. 48–58 min · Light-themed haiku (percentage included). Teacher models one haiku with a word bank and dyslexia-friendly options: students can write, dictate to teacher, or choose from pre-made lines and stitch them together. Students: create a 5–7–5 syllable haiku about light/shadows with one percentage idea (e.g., “25% / out of 100”). Provide sentence starters: “Light travels…”, “A mirror makes…”, “Shadows show…”, “25% is…”.

7. 58–60 min · Share & exit check. Students do a quick “gallery whisper”: each shares one line plus one prediction statement. Teacher collects prediction sheets and haiku/line-chosen slips.

Resources

• Torch(es), small desk mirrors (or foil + card), opaque card cut-outs (castle gate)
• White paper “castle wall” sheets and tracing paper
• Prediction sheet (Before/Prediction/After) and observation table
• Visual 100-grid printables and Red Orb discount grid sheet
• Science vocabulary word bank cards (light source, shadow, mirror, reflection, opaque)
• Haiku template with syllable support and optional line bank
• Safety reminder cards (no eye shining)
• Clipboard or folder for evidence collection
• Coloured pencils/markers and tape

Assessment

• Formative: review prediction accuracy (“Before/Prediction/After” shows whether students predicted correctly).
• Formative: listen for correct use of science vocabulary in 1-sentence “Because…” explanations.
• Quick check: students shade a percentage on the 100-grid correctly and verbalise it as “__ out of 100”.
• Exit evidence: haiku (or selected lines) includes at least one percentage idea and one light/shadow word.

Differentiation

• Provide low reading friction: word bank + icon cards + diagrams; sentence starters for “Because…” and haiku lines.
• Offer choice of output: write haiku, dictate to teacher/voice note, or assemble from line strips.
• Neurodivergent support: short timed bursts (7–15 min), hands-on evidence first, then brief writing; sensory break option after each experiment.
• Sentence scaffolds:
• “I predict the shadow will ___ because ___.”
• “25% means ___ out of 100, so I pay ___ Orbs.”
• Reduced writing option: students can submit a labelled drawing for Experiment 1/2 and a single completed percentage sentence.