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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 2 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 does this record not tell you?
  2. 2. Why is the noon shadow shortest in June?
  3. 3. How long was the shadow on June 21?
  4. 4. What would you expect on December 21 next year?
2.Why is the noon shadow much longer in December than in June?
  • A.The sun is much lower in the sky at noon in winter
  • B.The sun is further away in December
  • C.The stick is taller in winter
3.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
4.The class measures again in February. Will the noon shadow be longer or shorter than in December?
  • A.Longer, because February is colder
  • B.Exactly the same as December
  • C.Shorter, because it shrinks from December toward June
5.Why are the noon shadow measurements more useful as a graph than as a list?
  • A.The graph shows the pattern across the year at a glance
  • B.Lists cannot hold numbers
  • C.Graphs make shadows longer
6.In which month would you expect the shortest noon shadow next year?
  • A.June
  • B.December
  • C.Every month the same
7.When the sun is high in the sky, what is the shadow like?
  • A.Short
  • B.Long
  • C.Missing completely

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

Answer key — One Stick, Measured All Year

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. It does not tell you how the shadow changed during each day. 2. The sun is highest in the sky then, so the shadow is short. 3. 0.5 m. 4. About 3.2 m again, because the pattern repeats each year.
  2. 2.The sun is much lower in the sky at noon in winter
  3. 3.So only the date changes, not the time of day
  4. 4.Shorter, because it shrinks from December toward June
  5. 5.The graph shows the pattern across the year at a glance
  6. 6.June
  7. 7.Short

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