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Wilderness Times | Summer 2021
EARLY YEARS
THE SHADOW PROJECT A wonderful student provocation sparked The Shadow Project. Yaalini asked in passing one day, ‘What is a shadow?’ Naturally, instead of answering this question for Yaalini, we turned the question into the basis for a project. We explored this question together as a group and exposing the girls to everything ‘shadow’ became the overarching intention.
We started by asking the group: What is a shadow?
We asked: Why do you think their shadows got bigger and smaller?
“ A shadow is when the sun and the shade… and, you step in the sun and the shade and it makes a shadow.” – Emily F
“ Well I noticed that when they went forwards their shadows went little and when they went backwards their shadows went bigger because when you go close to it, it will make it just your size and when you go backwards, it will get bigger and then if you go forwards again, it will make your shadow go little again.” – Matilda
“ Umm… if you make a shadow puppet with your fingers it will make a shadow.” – Manon “ When you see the same…when you see yourself on the wall.” – Maddy “ I think when you get a shadow, you want to have a shadow friend.” – Gigi “ When the sun’s up, the sun makes a shadow of your body.” – Maddie R After this initial question, we added an overhead projector to our space and together discussed the girls’ engagement with it. We started by showing the girls a video of Rose, Maddie R and Aurelia discovering their shadows in the light of the overhead projector for the first time. Much of the discussion throughout the film was of the girls discussing and exploring how their shadows grew and shrank depending on where they were standing.
“ Because the sunlight was going through us so then we were bigger and then it got bigger and bigger when we went backwards and then when we went forwards it couldn’t because we were too far away and it made us small.” – Rose “ So the light was going through them a bit when they were going backwards, and they got bigger and bigger and when they went forwards they got smaller and smaller because the size changed because the light because... I couldn’t remember.” – Olivia “ Because when you go forwards in the light... Because the light is big and then when you go forwards it makes you little.” – Georgia
“Because it works like that.” – Emma H “ Because I think because the sun is bigger because maybe when it goes smaller and then maybe it will go smaller again when they go forwards and maybe when they go near the other light maybe because there are two lights and maybe that makes them in front they’re little and when they’re in the back they’re big!” – Gigi “ When they got bigger because they were blocking the light and when they got smaller because they weren’t blocking the light.” – Lara “ Madeleine shadow got bigger because she got really far.” – Bianca We turned this interest in shadows into a game. We took photos of the girls’ shadows and viewed some of them. Some shadows were easy for the girls to determine whom they belonged to, but others were a little tricky. This experience was all about noticing and describing the distinguishing features of each other.
