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One Stick, Measured All Year is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on using a year of noon shadows to reveal the seasonal pattern in the sky, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-ESS1-2. It prints 7 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 12 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

One Stick, Measured All Year

5-ESS1-2

NameDate

Read the record, then answer the questions.

1.Read the record, then answer the questions.

One Stick, Measured All Year

Shadow lengths of a one-meter stick, measured at noon on four dates. SHADOW OF A ONE-METER STICK AT NOON December 21 ...... 3.2 m March 21 ......... 1.3 m June 21 .......... 0.5 m September 21 ..... 1.3 m Measured in the same place, at the same time of day.

  1. 1. What was kept the same for every measurement?
  2. 2. Why is the noon shadow shortest in June?
  3. 3. What does this record not tell you?
  4. 4. How long was the shadow on June 21?
2.In which month would you expect the shortest noon shadow next year?
  • A.June
  • B.December
  • C.Every month the same
3.Why are the noon shadow measurements more useful as a graph than as a list?
  • A.Graphs make shadows longer
  • B.Lists cannot hold numbers
  • C.The graph shows the pattern across the year at a glance
4.The noon shadow was the same length in March and September. Why?
  • A.The sun was the same height in the sky at noon on those dates
  • B.The stick was moved
  • C.It was cloudy both times
5.Why measure the shadow at noon every time?
  • A.So the stick stays dry
  • B.Because shadows only happen at noon
  • C.So only the date changes, not the time of day
6.A graph of noon shadow length across a year goes down then up again. What does that show?
  • A.The stick is shrinking
  • B.A pattern that repeats every year
  • C.A one-off event
7.In the northern half of the world, which way does a stick's noon shadow point?
  • A.South, toward the sun
  • B.East
  • C.North, away from the sun in the south

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 12 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — One Stick, Measured All Year

Set 12. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. The same place, the same stick and the same time of day. 2. The sun is highest in the sky then, so the shadow is short. 3. It does not tell you how the shadow changed during each day. 4. 0.5 m.
  2. 2.June
  3. 3.The graph shows the pattern across the year at a glance
  4. 4.The sun was the same height in the sky at noon on those dates
  5. 5.So only the date changes, not the time of day
  6. 6.A pattern that repeats every year
  7. 7.North, away from the sun in the south

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-ESS1-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.