One of the fun things about these easy bible science projects is that they demonstrate God and His nature every time. Your students will learn enough about the nature of God to find Him as real as the materials involved.
Bible Science Project: “Understanding Shadows”
Related Scriptures
Psalm 23: 4 Ye though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil.
Bible Science Project Materials
– Flashlight
– Wall
Steps
1. In the off position, put the mouth of a flashlight flush against a wall.
2. Turn the flashlight on.
3. Pull the flashlight slowly back from the wall.
What happens to the beam of the light?
4. Put your finger in the beam between the flashlight and the wall.
5. Move the flashlight back farther.
What happens to the reflection of your finger?
Answer
As you take the flashlight farther from the wall, the beam should get bigger but also less intense. If you hold your finger steady, its shadow should also get bigger as the light moves farther away.
Bible Science Project Explanation
A beam of light grows rather than getting smaller when you move the light source farther away. This has to do with the direction of the beams. In a flashlight, the face is round and the rim is very shallow, maybe half an inch deep at most. This allows the light to move forward in a beam (as opposed to a light bulb, which will send undirected light into all directions). However, the shallowness of the rim allows the beam to spread out, so that when it hits the wall, it is bigger than the actual source and will continue to grow bigger as more space is put between the light and the wall.
To create a shadow, you need three things: A light, a solid object, and a surface. A shadow will always fall opposite the light source that creates it. Light will shine through some surfaces such as fabric, but it will not shine through solid objects like your finger. The shadow size will depend on the distance between the light, the object, and its source. If the object (finger) is brought closer to the light and away from the source, its shadow grows smaller and crisper. If it is brought farther from the light and closer to the source, it grows bigger, though the edges are less crisp.
Understanding God
Shadows can be fun to play with, but they represent an absence of light. This world can be a shadow place sometimes and seem scary. Bullies lurk, illnesses threaten, family members argue, and fears of things that could happen keep us
awake at night. We need to remember that God is like that flashlight; he never ceases to shine, no matter how many shadows pass between us and Him. And oftentimes, the things we fear turn out to be nothing more than shadows! If we
pass through a shadowy time in life – like our own “valley of the shadow of death” mentioned in Psalm 23, we need to remember that God’s love and light will never cease.
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