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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.

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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. How long was the shadow on June 21?
  2. 2. Why is the noon shadow shortest in June?
  3. 3. What was kept the same for every measurement?
  4. 4. What claim does this record support?
2.When the sun is high in the sky, what is the shadow like?
  • A.Missing completely
  • B.Short
  • C.Long
3.In the northern half of the world, which way does a stick's noon shadow point?
  • A.South, toward the sun
  • B.North, away from the sun in the south
  • C.East
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.It was cloudy both times
  • C.The stick was moved
5.Why are the noon shadow measurements more useful as a graph than as a list?
  • A.Graphs make shadows longer
  • B.The graph shows the pattern across the year at a glance
  • C.Lists cannot hold numbers
6.What else changes through the year in the same pattern as the noon shadow?
  • A.The color of the sky at noon
  • B.The number of hours of daylight
  • C.The length of the stick
7.In which month would you expect the shortest noon shadow next year?
  • A.Every month the same
  • B.December
  • C.June

LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — One Stick, Measured All Year

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. 0.5 m. 2. The sun is highest in the sky then, so the shadow is short. 3. The same place, the same stick and the same time of day. 4. Shadow length changes through the year in a pattern that repeats.
  2. 2.Short
  3. 3.North, away from the sun in the south
  4. 4.The sun was the same height in the sky at noon on those dates
  5. 5.The graph shows the pattern across the year at a glance
  6. 6.The number of hours of daylight
  7. 7.June

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