Teacher sheet · Ages 10–11 · about 45–50 minutes
Hide, disguise or warn
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/camouflage/ages-10-11/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/camouflage/ages-10-11/print/
Learning aims
- Describe background matching, disruptive colouration, countershading and colour change with examples.
- Explain that camouflage helps prey and predators.
- Explain warning colours and mimicry.
- Plan and carry out a fair test and identify the variables kept the same.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Starter: 'spot the animal' photos; which ones were hardest and why? |
| 10 min | Read the text; pupils sort the photos into the four tricks. |
| 20 min | Fair test outdoors in groups; collect results in the table. |
| 5 min | Which trick? game. |
| 5 min | Quiz and discussion of the results. |
Materials for the experiment
- Paper in four colours (for example green, brown, grey and yellow)
- Scissors
- A ruler
- A patch of lawn or a large printed photo of grass and leaves
- A stopwatch
- A results table
Safety: Use scissors carefully. Check the lawn for nettles, glass and dog mess before you start. Wash your hands afterwards.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| Animals change colour on purpose to match a new background. | Many animals cannot change colour at all; the snowshoe hare's change is triggered by day length, not by the snow, so it can be white before the snow arrives. |
| Camouflage is only for prey. | Predators such as groupers or big cats also use it to get close to prey. |
| Bright colours are a mistake that gets animals eaten. | Warning colours advertise a defence such as a bad taste or venom, so predators learn to avoid them. |
Worksheet answers
- Background matching (fawn, stick insect, decorator crab); disruptive colouration (tiger, leopard, cheetah, boa); countershading (many sea animals, caterpillar models); warning colours (monarch, blue-ringed octopus); colour change (snowshoe hare, octopus) also accepted.
- A white hare on brown ground stands out, so predators find it more easily.
- Size and shape of the caterpillars, the area, the search time, one caterpillar picked up at a time, several different predators.
- Usually the colour closest to the background (green or brown on grass) because it is hardest to tell apart from the grass.
Quiz answers
- What does disruptive colouration do? Breaks up the animal's outline. Spots and stripes hide the shape of the body.[1]
- What is countershading? Darker on top and lighter underneath. It cancels the shadow made by light from above.[1][3]
- What sets off the snowshoe hare's change to a white coat? The length of the day. Changes in day length trigger the moult.[7][6]
- How do octopuses change colour so quickly? Nerves and muscles open and close bags of colour in the skin. The bags of colour are called chromatophores.[5]
- Why can camouflage help a predator? It can sneak up on prey. For example, some groupers lie still on the sea floor.[1]
- Why would a harmless animal copy the colours of a dangerous one? Predators that avoid the dangerous one also avoid the copy. This trick is called mimicry.[1][2]
Going further
Repeat the test on a different background (bare soil, a brick wall or snow-white paper). Does the 'best' colour change? What does this tell you about camouflage and habitats?
Sources used in this lesson
- [1] Protective coloration (Britannica (Britannica School / Kids, student encyclopedia)): reliability High
- [2] The science of disguise (Oxford University Museum of Natural History): reliability High
- [3] Optimizing countershading camouflage (press release) (University of Bristol (news, 31 October 2016; paper in PNAS)): reliability High
- [4] Study confirms truth behind 'Darwin's moth' (University of Exeter (news, 17 August 2018; paper in Communications Biology)): reliability High
- [5] How octopuses and squids change color (Smithsonian Ocean (Smithsonian Institution)): reliability High
- [6] Snowshoe hare (U.S. National Park Service (Rocky Mountain National Park)): reliability High
- [7] Can camouflage keep up with climate change? Connecting climate projections to adaptation for the snowshoe hare (U.S. Geological Survey (Climate Adaptation Science Centers)): reliability High
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/camouflage/sources/
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