•You
probably don’t think much about light and dark. After all, you can turn on a
switch and the lights go on. Even in the middle of the night, you can have
light.
•
•Two hundred
years ago, though, people were very aware of light and dark. They worked during
the day when the Sun was
shining. As the sun went down, they used candles or oil lamps to see. However,
these lights were dim. Outside, there were no street lights. The only light
available came from the moon and stars. Night was very, very dark. People
usually went to bed when the sun went down and woke up early.
What
sources of light do you use every day? The sun is the biggest source of light.
It warms the world so plants grow and animals can
live. It allows you to work and play. Without the light of the sun, all life
on earth would
die. We also have electric light bulbs that bring us light. How about candles
and flashlights? These light sources all need energy –
from electricity, wax
or batteries – to shine.
Light and Dark Vocabulary
Dim: dull, not bright
Shadow: a patch of darkness
Nocturnal: awake at night
Opaque: light cannot penetrate it. You cannot see through it.
Transparent: light can shine through it and you can see through it.
Translucent: some light shines through it and you can partly see through it
WHAT ARE SHADOWS
Your shadow is longest in the early morning and in the late afternoon. In the afternoon, when the sun is directly above you, your shadow leaves your side for a little while. The sun makes the longest shadows at the beginning and at the end of the day because at that time, the sun is lowest in the sky and aimed at the sides of the various things on the earth. When the sun is directly above you, there is little or no shadow because the light from the sun is falling upon you from all the sides and there is hardly any dark region.