Sunlight and Shade: Warm or Cool?

Sand at the beach can feel hot. A spot under a tree feels cool. Why? Let’s find out what sunlight does, and how to make shade!

This lesson takes about 15 minutes. You can take a break after each part.

Before you start

Sunlight and Shade: Warm or Cool?

Learning objectives

  • I can say that sunlight warms the ground and water.
  • I can compare a thing in the sun and the same thing in the shade.
  • I can say what makes shade.
  • I can check if a roof I build keeps a spot cooler.

The Sun warms things

Sunlight warms the ground

When the Sun shines on the ground, the ground gets warmer. Sunlight warms sand, soil, rocks, and sidewalks.

Sunlight warms water too

Water in the sun gets warmer too. A wading pool left in the sun all morning feels warmer in the afternoon.

On the left, a girl smiles with her eyes closed in the warm sunshine. On the right, two cups of water stand in the sun, one wrapped in black cloth and one in white cloth, each with a thermometer; the cup in black cloth is warmer.
The Sun warms her face (her eyes are closed: never look at the Sun!). It warms the water in both cups too; the cup in dark cloth gets warmer.

Loading the questions…

Sun or shade: compare

Two of the same

Take two things that are the same: two cups of water or two rocks of the same kind. Put one in the sun. Put the other one in the shade.

Wait, then feel

Wait a while. Then touch both, quickly and gently. Which one feels warmer? Which one feels cooler? Only the sunlight was different.

Loading the questions…

What makes shade?

Shade blocks the sunlight

Shade is made when something blocks the sunlight. A tree, an umbrella, a tent, or a roof can make shade.

Shade keeps a spot cooler

In the shade, less sunlight reaches the ground. So the ground in the shade warms less. It stays cooler than the ground in the sun.

Loading the questions…

Build it: a shade roof

Pick a good roof

You can build a little roof to make shade. Thick cardboard blocks the sunlight well. Sunlight goes right through clear plastic, so it makes almost no shade.

Test your roof

Put one ice cube in the sun. Put the same ice cube under your roof. Watch them. If the ice cube under the roof melts more slowly, your roof keeps the spot cooler: it works!

Loading the questions…

Review game

Final assessment

To master the lesson, you need at least 60% correct answers.

Loading the assessment…

Summary

  • Sunlight warms the ground and water: sand, soil, rocks, and water get warmer in the sun.
  • To compare, put two things that are the same in the sun and in the shade: the one in the sun gets warmer.
  • Shade comes from something that blocks the sunlight. A spot in the shade stays cooler.
  • A roof that blocks the sunlight, like thick cardboard, makes good shade. Clear plastic does not.

A few related activities

Sunlight and Shade: Warm or Cool? — Review gameGameSunlight and Shade: Warm or Cool? — Review gameReview game for the lesson “Sunlight and Shade: Warm or Cool?”: 10 questions drawn at random every round.…See the activityCaring for Our Earth: Use Less, Reuse, RecycleLessonCaring for Our Earth: Use Less, Reuse, RecycleNature gives us water, trees, land and air. The things people do can make them dirty or use…See the activityWeather: Watch It, Record It, Find PatternsLessonWeather: Watch It, Record It, Find PatternsLook out the window. Is it sunny, cloudy, rainy, or windy? Weather changes from day to day. Let’s…See the activity