Camouflage

Objectives

Students will observe the important characteristics of camouflaged animals.

Materials

  • White paper
  • Crayons and paint
  • Scissors

Procedures

  1. Ask the children to draw a picture of an animal they might see inthe woods or on the playground.
  2. Have them color or paint the pictures and cut them out.
  3. Take the pictures outside and prop them up on trees or rocks.
    • Walk back 20 feet. Can they see them?
    • Walk back 40 feet. Can they seethem now? Keep moving back from the pictures until they can nolonger be seen.
  4. Turn the pictures over so they are white and prop them up.
    • Walk back 20 feet. Can they see them?
    • Walk back 40 feet. Can they seethem better when they are white?
  5. Ask the children how animals' colors camouflage and protect them?

Challenges

  • Think of other animals that are camouflaged. Why are horseshoe rabbits white in the winter and gray in the summer?
  • Who might wear camouflage clothing for their jobs? Why?
  • Would you wear the same clothes if you were trying to camouflage yourself in the desert or jungle? Why or why not?
  • Which color would you wear inthe desert? The jungle? The North Pole?
loading gif