In our first science lesson on Light, Year 3 explored how we see objects and what happens in darkness. We began with a cardboard box filled with small play objects hidden inside. With the lid closed, we asked: Can we see the objects? The children quickly discovered that we couldn’t. We then pierced a single hole in the box and checked again—still no objects! Adding more holes didn’t help either; everything remained dark.

Next, we shone a torch through a hole at the top of the box. This time, the children noticed that they could see some of the objects directly in the torch beam. But when we shone the torch through a side hole, nothing appeared. Why? Because light travels in straight lines, and without the beam reaching the objects, they stay hidden.

We finished by learning that darkness is the absence of light—a great start to our new topic!