Camouflage and Toothpicks
Materials
- A box of colored toothpicks.
Directions
-
Sort out the toothpicks into different piles according to their color. Count each pile and record how many toothpicks are in each pile. Then mix all the toothpicks together again and toss them outside on a grassy area.
-
Now, you are going to have five minutes to find and collect as many toothpicks as you can find. After the five minutes are up, sort the toothpicks that you found by color and count each pile.
Questions
- Which color was the hardest to see in the grass?
- How many toothpicks were found?
- What color was the easiest to see in the grass?
- If birds are looking for insects in the grass, which color would be the hardest for the bird to see?
- Would color help protect an insect from a bird?
- What color is a protective color?
-
How does a protective color help an animal adapt to its environment?
Hide and Seek Butterflies
This is a game to play with your class! Have each student in your class color a butterfly pattern that will match something in the classroom. If you have red carpet, you could color the butterfly red. When you are finished decorating the butterfly, cut it out. Be sure not to show anyone your butterfly because now everyone in the class is going to hide their butterfly in its spot.
Now is a good time for everyone to leave the room. Or it would be ideal if people hide their butterflies right before lunch or gym time. When you come back to the room it is time to play the game. The object is to find as many butterflies as you can! The person with the most butterflies will be the winning predator because they found the most food!
Was it easy to find the butterflies?
Which butterflies were the easiest to find?
Which butterflies were the hardest to find?
If you were a butterfly in nature, what patterns would you want your wings to be? Where will you hide from predators then?
Go back on home...
Go back to the camouflage page.
