Shadows, Days and Stars is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on representing data to reveal daily and seasonal patterns in the sky, aligned to NGSS performance expectation 5-ESS1-2. It prints 4 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.
5-ESS1-2
Look at the data, then answer.
LessonPrint · 5-ESS1-2 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
It practices representing data to reveal daily and seasonal patterns in the sky — 4 questions for Grade 5, all on NGSS 5-ESS1-2: Graph data on shadows, day and night, and the stars across a year. The instruction to students is “Look at the data, then answer”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
5-ESS1-2, under Earth and Space Science for Grade 5. The published performance expectation reads: “Represent data in graphical displays to reveal patterns of daily changes in length and direction of shadows, day and night, and the seasonal appearance of some stars in the night sky.” The worksheet assesses that performance expectation rather than a paraphrase of it.
Shadows, Days and Stars is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on 5-ESS1-2, so it suits any student working at that standard — including older students revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Yes. All 4 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
25 — one per student, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Yes. Shadows, Days and Stars, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
Yes — “Shadows, Days and Stars” is a 60-minute Grade 5 plan for 5-ESS1-2, timed section by section, with the misconceptions to expect and an exit ticket. Shadows, Days and Stars is the practice that follows it.
Graph data on shadows, day and night, and the stars across a year.
Teaching this next? Shadows, Days and Stars is the 60-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-ESS1-2 of the Next Generation Science Standards.