harbour/paper.trail
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starter

shadow tracing

trace the shadow of an everyday object at three different times. notice how the shape stretches, shrinks, and shifts — then annotate what changed and why.

materials

  • A4 paper
  • pencil
  • a small object (cup or toy)
  • sticky tape
  • sunny window or outdoor spot

instructions

  1. 1

    place your object on the paper near a sunny window or outside

    hint: tape the paper down so it doesn't move between tracings

  2. 2

    trace the shadow with your pencil — write the time next to it

  3. 3

    wait 30–60 minutes and trace the new shadow in a different colour or line style

  4. 4

    repeat once more after another 30–60 minutes

  5. 5

    look at all three outlines together — what pattern do you notice?

capture prompts

skills:observationdocumentationpattern recognition