Science // Energy

Building shade from the sun

Use tools and materials to design and build a structure that will reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area, such as a shade or shelter

Ages
5 to 6
Type
Method
Builds on
2 topics
Leads to
0 topics
Standards
1 code

Quick check

Can the learner design and build a simple shade — like an umbrella or canopy — and test whether it keeps an area cooler in the sun?

Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.

Topic // Mastery

What mastery looks like

What a learner can do once this topic is secure.
  • Design a structure intended to reduce the warming effect of sunlight on an area
  • Build the structure using available materials and test whether it reduces temperature
  • Compare the temperature in the shaded area vs an unshaded area as evidence of effectiveness

Topic // Map

Where this fits

What to learn first and what this topic opens up, with the reason for each link. Required links come first.
  • RequiredMust come first
  • HelpfulHelps, but not essential

Before this

2 topics
  • Sunlight warms things upRequired

    Energy // Ages 5 to 6

    Must observe sunlight warming before designing a structure to reduce it

  • Modelling with SketchesHelpful

    Scientific Inquiry // Ages 5 to 8

    Modelling/sketching skills support designing a shade structure

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Building shade from the sun

Ages 5 to 6 // Method

Leads to

0 topics

Nothing in the catalogue builds on this topic yet. Browse Energy

Topic // Research-informed

Teaching notes

From the Marble Skill Taxonomy. These notes have not been validated in classrooms, so treat them as a starting point for your own judgement.

The approach

For children aged 5–6, build-and-test a shade structure that reduces the warming effect of sunlight on a spot (aligned to NGSS K-PS3-2 engineering design). The central learning is a hands-on design loop: choose materials, build a cover (umbrella/canopy/tent/parasol), position it between the sun and a target spot, then test by comparing the shaded spot with an unshaded one at the same time. Key insight: blocking the sunlight (opacity and position), not just covering, is what keeps the area cooler. Check which cover works by looking at the shadow or bright patch on the ground — never by looking toward the sun. An on-screen design bench and reference/check activities support the loop and fair-comparison logic, but the real outdoor build-and-test is what the standard requires.

Common misconceptions

  • 'Any cover works the same' — a see-through or holey cover still lets the sun warm the area; blocking the sunlight is what matters (opacity/coverage).
  • 'Shade makes cold' — carried from the prior topic; the structure doesn't make cold, it stops the sun reaching and warming the area.
  • Thinking the structure must be big or tall rather than POSITIONED to block the sun's path to the area.
  • Treating the first build as finished — missing that testing and improving (iteration) is the task.
  • Judging success by looks ('it's a nice tent') rather than by the evidence (is the shaded spot actually cooler than the sunny one?).

Useful representations

  • The problem object (hot slide / sandpit / a chocolate or ice cube to protect) plus a build kit of cloths, card, sticks, pegs.
  • A design-loop at picture level: think → build → test (feel/measure) → make it better.
  • A shaded-vs-sunny comparison of the same spot, with warm/cool faces as the result.
  • Real exemplars: umbrella, canopy, tent, parasol, sun-sail — things that get between the sun and the ground.

Teaching practices

  • Frame a real problem the child cares about: 'the slide / the sandpit / our toy gets too hot in the sun — can you build something to keep it cool?' so the build has a purpose.
  • Run a genuine design loop at a 5-6 level: choose materials, build a shade, TEST by feeling/measuring the shaded vs sunny spot, then improve one thing (bigger? thicker? angled to block the sun?).
  • Make the test a fair comparison without the jargon: same object, one spot shaded by the structure and one left in the sun, checked at the same time — cooler under the shade is the evidence it worked.
  • Let material choice matter: compare a see-through/mesh cover with a solid opaque one so children notice that blocking the sunlight (not just covering) is what cools the area.
  • Connect cause to design: because the SUN warms the area (prior topic), the structure works by getting between the sun and the area — position and coverage matter, not just size.

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Build, position and test a real shade

    Why it works: A shade works by getting between the sun and the area and blocking the sunlight; you can tell it worked because the shaded spot is cooler than a matching sunny spot checked at the same time, not because it looks nice.

    1. Start from a real problem the child cares about: 'the slide / sandpit / our toy gets too hot in the sun — can you build something to keep it cool?'
    2. Offer a kit — cloths, card, sticks, pegs — and ask the child to choose a material and build a cover (umbrella, canopy, tent, parasol) over a target spot (a thermometer, a toy, or something to keep cool such as a chocolate or ice cube on the ground).
    3. Have the child place the cover so it sits BETWEEN the sun and the spot; look at the ground and move the cover until the target spot is in the cover's shadow instead of bright sunlight.
    4. Set up a fair comparison: two of the same kind of spot that start out alike, one shaded by the structure and one left in the sun, then check both after the same time has passed, by careful feel or with a relative thermometer.
    5. Improve one thing and re-test (bigger? thicker/more opaque? angled to block the sun's path?), then judge success from the evidence: is the shaded spot cooler than the sunny one?
  2. 2

    On-screen shade-design bench (companion for the design loop)

    Why it works: Blocking the sun's light — not merely covering — is what keeps the spot cooler, and the structure must sit between the sun and the area; you confirm it by comparing covered and uncovered probes over the same time across repeated tests.

    1. Show a toy on a sunny slide (or a spot on a play area) and a kit of covers — cloth, open net, card — that the child can drag over the spot, resize and position relative to the sun.
    2. Run a 'sun test' over time with two probes that start alike, one covered and one uncovered: across the test the uncovered spot keeps warming (warm face) while the covered spot stays cooler (cool face), so the difference grows over elapsed time rather than appearing instantly.
    3. Use a 'change one thing' control and a persistent results strip that keeps each test's hit/miss mark on screen, so a pre-reader can read their own evidence and judge 'did it work?'.
    4. Have the child try an open see-through net first and watch it still let light reach the spot so the spot keeps warming, then swap to a solid opaque cloth and re-test over the same time to see the covered spot stay cooler (note a tight weave may only partly reduce warming).
    5. Keep all prompts picture + audio and all temperature language relative (warmer/cooler, no degrees); read which build worked from the shadow under the cover and the two probes, not by looking toward the sun.
  3. 3

    Explore real shade exemplars (reference)

    Why it works: Real shade structures all work in the same way — they get between the sun and the ground to block the light and cast a shadow — so position and coverage matter, not just size.

    1. Share a tappable or picture scene of real shade structures — umbrella, tent, canopy, sun-sail — and reveal the cooler area beneath each with 'this blocks the sun so it's cooler underneath' in picture + audio.
    2. Ask the child to point out where each structure sits relative to the sun and which patch of ground it keeps in shadow.
    3. Connect to the prior idea that the sun warms the area: because the sun warms the ground, a structure helps by getting between the sun and the spot.

Topic // Standards

Curriculum standards

Codes for the curriculum statements this topic maps to. Each publisher owns its standard text.
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) K-5
K-PS3-2

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