Teacher sheet · Ages 6–7 · about 45–50 minutes
Now you see me!
Lesson page: echoesof.science/school/camouflage/ages-6-7/ · Pupil worksheet: echoesof.science/school/camouflage/ages-6-7/print/
Learning aims
- Camouflage is colour and pattern that helps an animal hide.
- Stick insects, fawns, snowshoe hares and octopuses use camouflage.
- Some animals change colour; the snowshoe hare changes with the seasons.
- Bright colours can be a warning.
Lesson plan
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 5 min | Starter: show a photo of a stick insect on a plant. Who can spot it? |
| 10 min | Read the text together and look at photos of each animal. |
| 15 min | Paper caterpillar hide and seek; count and compare. |
| 5 min | Hide or warn? game. |
| 5 min | Quiz. |
| 5 min | Worksheet drawing. |
Materials for the experiment
- Paper in green, brown and a bright colour (pink or yellow)
- Child scissors
- A patch of grass, or a large green and brown picture
- A timer
Safety: Use child scissors and carry them pointing down. Check the grass for nettles, glass and dog mess first. Wash your hands after playing outside.
Common misconceptions
| Pupils may think… | Actually… |
|---|---|
| Camouflage means being green. | Camouflage means matching the place where the animal lives: white in snow, brown on bark, spotty on a forest floor. |
| Animals choose their colour like clothes. | Most animals are born with their colours. Some, like the octopus or the snowshoe hare, change colour, but the hare's change is set off by the length of the day. |
| All animals try to hide. | Some animals show bright colours on purpose to warn that they taste bad or can hurt. |
Worksheet answers
- Any animal drawn in colours that match its background (for example a green caterpillar on a leaf, a white hare in snow).
- Yes.
- To warn other animals: “I taste bad” or “I can hurt you”.
Quiz answers
- What do we call colours that help an animal hide? Camouflage. Camouflage makes an animal harder to see.[1]
- What does a stick insect look like? A twig. It looks like a twig with leaves.[2]
- What colour is a snowshoe hare in winter? White. White fur matches the snow.[6]
- Which animal can change colour in the blink of an eye? An octopus. Octopuses, squid and cuttlefish can change colour very fast.[5]
- What can bright red, yellow and black colours mean? Stay away, I taste bad. They are warning colours.[1]
Going further
Make a class 'camouflage gallery': each pupil designs a paper animal for a corner of the classroom and the class tries to find them all.
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
- [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
Full list with links and a note on each source's reliability: echoesof.science/school/camouflage/sources/
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