why questions · Ages 6-8

Why Does Your Shadow Stretch Tall at Sunset?

A shadow gets longer when the sun is low because light hits your body from the side instead of from high above.

The whole story

1. At noon, Mina hopped across the schoolyard. The sun shone high above, and her little shadow tucked itself beneath her boots.

2. Mina crouched low beside her tiny shadow. She wondered where it would go when the sun moved.

3. After school, Mina walked to the community garden. The sun had slipped toward the rooftops, and her shadow reached across the path.

4. Mina reached toward the shadow's long toes. They touched the garden gate, but her red boots stayed beside the path.

5. Mina stood beside the fence and held still. The fence made a long shadow, too, and its dark stripes lay beside hers.

6. Mina looked from her shadow to the sky. At noon, the sun had been high above her. Now it hung low beside the rooftops.

7. Mina held one hand beside her face. The low sunlight made a long hand-shaped shadow on the path. The answer was standing right beside her.

8. A shadow gets longer when the sun is low because light hits your body from the side instead of from high above.

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