Since Jennifer has her science lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I'd have to figure out just how I'd teach someone so young a science lesson.

A search on the 'Net helped me understand it doesn't have to be anything all that difficult. In fact, teaching preschool science could be done easily from home. I explored many sites and lesson plans until I finally decided on one that explored shadows.

And once we got started, I caught on to how easy it could be done, and how it could be a learning experience all wrapped in to one. (Now, see, it's that "natural teacher" kicking in.)

We went outside and I was grateful it was a sunny day. We stood in the backyard examining our shadows. I asked Jennifer, "What makes a shadow?"

She smiled and, pointing up, she said, "The sun!"

"That's right. When the sun is shining on you, it will make a shadow appear. Do you know what else can make a shadow?"

She shook her head.

"Light," I answered. "When light is shining on you like the sun, you'll see your shadow on the floor or the wall."

I then asked her to notice where her shadow was (in front of her) and I asked her, "How come your shadow is right here and not over there?" I pointed to her side.

She thought a minute, looked in the sky, then said, "Because the sun is right there."

Wow. Smart kid. "Very good," I replied. "If the sun is in back of you, your shadow will be in front of you. If the sun is in front of you, your shadow will be behind you." I then demonstrated, asking her to turn around. She did and I told her to look behind her to see her shadow. (Had to make sure she didn't turn around completely to do it.)

I also asked her to touch her shadow and I asked, "Did your shadow do anything different when you moved?"

"It moved, too," she said.

"That's right," I said. "If you move, your shadow moves." Then I demonstrated again, asking her to watch her shadow while she moved her arms up and done, wiggled them in the air and walked side-to-side.

Next I asked her to jump over my shadow and asked why her shadow moved and mine didn't. I told her it's because I stood still while she moved, so my shadow stood still, too.

Then I had her stand under an umbrella at the patio table and i asked, "Can you see your shadow now?"

She looked down then shook her head.

"That's because the umbrella's shadow is covering it up," I said. I pointed at both the sun and umbrella. "The sun shines on the umbrella to make the umbrella's shadow. But when you stand under the umbrella, it's bigger than you are, so you can't see your shadow."

Next I asked her to stand under a tree. "Do you see your shadow?" I asked.

She looked down then shook her head.

"Do you know why?"

She pointed. "Because the sun can't get through."

"Very good," I smiled. "Buut..." And I held my hand against the house, where it was still under the tree but my shadow was visible. "Look. Can you see the shadow of my hand?"

She smiled, nodding.

"And why can you see it?"

"Because the sun got through the leaves," she answered, pointing.

"Excellent. The sun is peeking through those leaves, so you can make a shadow right here. You try."

Then she put her hand in the same spot, making her shadow appear. I asked her to move it to the left a little, where there was no sun. "How come you can't see your shadow now?" I asked.

She shook her head, looking at me. "There's no sun."

"Very good."

Next I put water into two glasses, one clear and one dark. I set them out separately in the sun. First the transparent one. "Can you see the water in the shadow?" I asked.

Smiling, she nodded.

"And why can you see it?"

"Because it's light," she answered.

"That's rigght. Now watch this." I put the dark cup of water down. As predicted, you couldn't notice any liquid inside. "Can you see the water's shadow with this one?" I asked.

She shook her head.

"And why not?"

"Because it's dark."

I started feeling giddy inside. "Very good, Jennifer. You're a smart scientist!"

The next thing we did was talk about how some shadows look like something when they are really something else. I held my hand up against the house. "What's that a shadow of?" I asked.

"Your hand," she replied, pointing.

Then I folded my hands in such a way. "That looks like a rooster, doesn't it?" I asked.

Smiling, she nodded.

"But it's not really a rooster, is it?"

She shook her head and pointed. "It's your hands."

"That's right. It's my hands." Next I held up a book. "What does this look like to you?"

"A book."

"Can you tell it's a book in the shadow?"

She studied both then shook her head.

"What does the shadow look like?"

"A square."

"That's right. It looks like a square. You can't see the pages like you can on the book, right?"

We did the same thing with a candle.

Finally, I talked to her about how shadows are like an "outline" of things. Like somebody drew around something and colored it all black.

"Can you see your hair in your shadow?" I asked.

Looking down at her shadow, she nodded.

"Can you see what color is your hair?"

Maybe if she had black hair, she'd guess it right. But her hair is brown so she didn't see that.

Next I asked her if she saw her shorts in her shadow. She nodded.

"Can you see what color your shorts are in your shadow?"

She looked down at her yellow shorts then at the shorts she saw in her shadow then shook her head.

"Shadows don't have color. They're just an outline of everything."

Today's lessons lasted longer -- and they were a lot of fun, too. In fact, she liked the water trick so much, she wanted to see it again and again. I'm glad I was able to make her science lesson fun -- for both of us.