We experience light and shadow in our lives every day but often don't pay a great deal of attention to them. Providing opportunities for children to explore light and shadow builds on their natural curiosity and helps them to become more aware of the world around them.
Below is background information that you will to support young children's scientific learning. It is not intended that children in the Foundation Stage are taught these facts, but that you use them to provide experiences that the children can draw on as they build their own scientific understanding.
Light
Light is a form of radiation that is given out by a range of sources including the sun, the stars, electric and fluorescent light bulbs, fire and candles. Light from any of these sources travels in straight lines in all directions. Some of these light rays enter our eye directly and we 'see' the light source. When light falls on objects all around us, some is absorbed by the object, while the rest bounces off from its surface. Light bouncing from the surface of an object enters our eye and then we 'see' that object.
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