Sun and Shade

Start with something students can look at or think about: a photo, a short video, a jar on the windowsill, or a question like "what do you already know about sunshine and shade?" Then let them work through the first item together as a class, then finish the rest independently or with a partner, keeping a word bank or anchor chart in view so the vocabulary stays available. When you review, ask students how they knew, and let them point to the part of the diagram or reading that told them. These sunshine and shade worksheets work well as a lead in before an investigation, as a way to capture what students noticed afterward, or as review before an assessment.

These sunshine and shade worksheets for 1st grade give students a clear, visual way to work through one of the big ideas in energy sound and light. Students label diagrams, sort and classify examples, read short explanations, and answer questions that ask them to say why, not just what. Each page keeps the science vocabulary front and center so students leave with the words they need to talk about sunshine and shade accurately. Working through sunshine and shade on paper gives 1st grade students something concrete to hold onto before, during, or after the hands on part of a lesson.

Yes, both. We made it for 1st Grade energy, sound and light, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with sunshine and shade. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Because the sun moves across the sky. In the morning it is low in the east and shadows are long on the opposite side. At noon it is high and the shadow is short and underneath.

To make the point that a shadow needs a light source. No sun means no shadow, which is easy to say and easy to forget once children are busy drawing.

This one is about where a shadow falls as the sun moves. Shade Structures is about building something to block the sun, which is a design task rather than an observation.

First graders learn that areas in direct sunlight receive more of the sun's heat and light energy, making them warmer than shaded areas where an object blocks the sun's rays. They explore how people, animals, and plants respond differently to sunshine and shade.

Sunshine and shade are typically explored in Grade 1 during a light, energy, or weather unit, often with an outdoor investigation that gives students direct experience of the temperature difference between sun and shade.

On a warm day, measure how warm the ground or a surface feels in direct sun versus in the shade. Ask your child to predict and observe where it's warmer and why. Complete the worksheet to record findings and discuss why shade feels cooler.

13 printable worksheets, all free to preview. Downloads are included with a ClassWeekly free trial, and every page prints on standard 8.5 x 11 paper.

These are written for 1st Grade students, roughly ages 6-7. Many teachers also use them a grade up for review or a grade down as an extension, so use the preview to judge the fit for a particular child.

Yes. Each one shows the NGSS code it covers on its own page, so you can check the alignment yourself rather than taking our word for it.

Yes. Nothing here assumes a classroom of 25, so they work the same one-to-one at the kitchen table as they do in a 1st Grade classroom, a literacy centre, or a tutoring session.