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INVITATION How can we introduce students to the scientific phenomenon behind the natural world of camouflage? How can we motivate them to explore the scientific world beyond their own backyards? How can we help students to bring the world of nature into their own physical world and provide them with the tools to bridge the gap? |
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TASKS Students create a slideshow about camouflaged animals. The animals that are in the slideshow are already classified as those that use camouflage for either protection or for hunting, as well as fictional animals that the students create. |
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TOOLS Computers; the Internet; Sherlock. Art Mania 12,000; Inspiration; Kid Pix Studio Deluxe; MovieWorks; Photoshop LE or Photoshop Elements. AppleWorks (optional); HyperStudio or mPOWER (optional); iMovie (optional); QuickTime Pro (optional). Scanners (optional). |
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INTERACTIONS Students work in groups of four, with each member assuming a unique role to focus on a different type of animal: Land Managers focus on animals of the land; Sky Managers focus on animals of the sky: Sea Managers focus on animals of the water; and Global Managers focus on animals that live in multiple environments. Within the groups, students work together to create a slideshow to showcase their camouflaged animals. The teacher facilitates and provides supplementary materials for students to research and analyze. |
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STANDARDS To identify the curriculum standards for your state that correlate to this student project, select the state in the popup menu below and then click the Go button. View Detailed Standards in |
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SITUATIONS Students work in the classroom, in the computer lab, in the media center, and at home if time allows. This project, including research and development, will take approximately five to eight days assuming that students are already familiar with the software. Teachers should allow for extended periods of time if student artwork becomes complex and detailed. |
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ASSESSMENT The teacher works from a grading rubric, created and discussed with students prior to the beginning of the project. The rubric clearly describes grading expectations for the project, outlining what students must attain for a particular grade. Teachers also assess student group work, cooperation and collaboration, task motivation, and final output. |
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Animals and people hide things for various reasons. Animals in nature hide their young to protect them from predators. Pirates hide stolen treasure to protect it from being stolen yet again. One of the most effective ways to hide something is by camouflaging it. Animals use camouflage for two reasons: for hiding themselves during a hunt or to protect themselves from being hunted. In this project, students move to an understanding of how nature uses these methods for survival by studying the camouflage techniques of various animals, suggesting ways certain animals could better camouflage themselves, and creating two fictional animals and their means of camouflage. Working in small groups, students present their findings as a slideshow. |
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Phase 1: Now you see it, now you don't Camouflage is the "art of concealment." It involves disguising an object, in plain sight, in order to hide it from something or someone. We often think of camouflage as being used during war. Soldiers wear special camouflage clothing and smear mud on their faces at night to become less visible. But camouflage exists in many other forms in the natural world. A chameleon, for instance, changes color to blend in with its environment. A white polar bear is hard to see on an iceberg, as is a striped zebra in the African bush. Discuss with students the meaning of camouflage, why it is useful in the animal kingdom, and the different types of camouflage animals use. Prepare examples and use QuickTime Pro, HyperStudio, mPOWER, or AppleWorks to create a slideshow showing students different examples of camouflaged animals. Ask the students to try and locate or see the animals. Individually, the students categorize the animals from the slideshow into land animals, sea animals, sky animals, or animals in multiple habitats. Students create their list in an AppleWorks database, either one designed by you ahead of time or one they create on their own. The fields in the database can include habitat, eating habits, type of camouflage, size, weight, hunting habits, and mating. |
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Phase 2: Can you find me? After students begin to realize what camouflage is and how and why it is important, brainstorm with them to create a list of everyday environments and ask the students to use Kid Pix Studio Deluxe, HyperStudio, or mPOWER to paint or draw a picture of how they would camouflage themselves (either as a hunter or for protection) in a particular environment. Environments such as a football game, school, and the dentist's office should give students ample opportunity for creative work. In each case, students paint a picture of themselves in camouflage attire so others cannot find them. |
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Phase 3: Land, sea, sky, or elsewhere? Once students understand the concept of camouflage, discuss with them the different types of camouflage and in what habitats they are used. Animals use one of two methods to conceal themselves in nature: general resemblance and special resemblance. With general resemblance, animals use color to blend in with their habitat so that they're almost invisible. Besides chameleons, other animals that use color to match their surroundings are hares, tree frogs, flounder fish, grasshoppers, and lizards. With special resemblance, animals use a combination of color, shape, and behavior to help them appear like something in their habitat. The rockfish is one example of an animal that uses special resemblance. Ask students if they can think of any animals that are camouflaged in more than one environment. Discuss why this would be important and the roles that camouflage plays for animals. Begin working in higher-order thinking for students and move them into levels of abstract thinking by asking questions such as: What other items in the human world are created with a camouflage idea? Why is this important? If camouflage is used primarily for protection and enables something or someone to hide from others, why isn't everything camouflaged? |
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Phase 4: What will you create? Divide the class into groups of four, with each member responsible for one type of animal: the Land Manager focuses on land animals, the Sky Manager focuses on animals that fly, the Sea Manager focuses on animals of the water, and the Global Manager focuses on animals that live in multiple environments. Groups will create a slideshow that illustrates the camouflage techniques that animals use for either hunting or protection. Groups first meet and use Inspiration to create an outline of what their slideshow will entail. Each manager researches information and adds to a group AppleWorks database (originally created in Phase 1) which they will then use to create their portion of the slideshow. Each manager is responsible for adding six images to the entire slideshow, which should involve a minimum of twenty-four images. Each manager is responsible for the following images:
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Phase 5: Bringing nature together After all managers have created their portion of the slideshow, members join all of the files into a single group slideshow using MovieWorks or QuickTime Pro. Students also include the information they collected in the database and add the information as voice-overs. The voice-overs include information from the decided database fields in Phase 4. (The last two fictional animals also need to have information stored in the database.) |
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PREPARATION
Students should be familiar with the required software for use in this project. Prepare a slideshow of fascinating uses of camouflage for both hunting and protection. Locate and bookmark Web sites for students to visit for focused research. Create a working database for all groups to use. Gather supplementary materials for students to use. |
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OPTIONS AND EXTENSION ACTIVITIES
Invite a local zookeeper to bring in or discuss animals and the world of camouflage. Dress in an outfit that would camouflage you as students enter the room. Ask students to make camouflaged items from scrap material at home. Play a game of hide and seek with each participant dressing so that they camouflage themselves in their hiding spot. Have students look at 3D art to try and see the camouflaged image. Take the students on a field trip to a local zoo. Videotape the day's events and create a desktop movie using iMovie. If available, bring an iBook on a field trip and gather information for the project. |
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BOOKS Animal Architects by Wanda Shipman Animal Camouflage: Naturebooks Series by Janet McDonnell Animal Defenses (Cherfas, Jeremy. How Animals Behave.) by Jeremy Cherfas Animals in Disguise (Curious Creatures) by Martine Duprez Animals Underground by Charlotte Ruffault The Architecture of Animals by Adrian Forsyth Clever Camouflagers (World of Discovery) by Anthony D. Fredericks Exploring Nature with Your Child by Dorothy Shuttlesworth Eyewitness Books: Mammals by Steve Parker Hide and Seek Creatures in Camouflage by Phyllis J. Perry Kinds of Animals: Flyers, Leapers, Crawlers, Creepers, by Jane Belk Moncure Nature's Tricksters: Animals and Plants That Aren't What They Seem by Mary Batten What's Inside? Animal Homes by Hilary Hockman |
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INTERNET RESOURCES Camouflage: Nature's Hide and Seek
Knowledge Adventure: Let's Find Out
Franklin Institute: Treasures at Sea
The Wild Ones
Clever Camouflage
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