What factors affect the size of a shadow in a shadow theatre?

This resource provides a set of videos and a practical investigation aimed at supporting working scientifically in the classroom and relating science to real world experiences. In the first video Professor Brian Cox joins a teacher to find out how to set up and run an investigation to find out what affects the size of a shadow. Children use their own shadow puppets to investigate how the shadow size changes as they change the distance between light source and screen. Further videos show Brian Cox finding out more about how shadows are used in X-rays and talking about how eclipses occur.

An accompanying written resource, provided by the Ogden Trust, guides teachers on how to run a shadow investigation in class.

This resource has been provided by the Royal Society.

Shadows set up video

Shadows experiment video

Real world shadows: x-rays video

Shadows eclipse video