Insect protection

Insect protection

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Working with Students
Further Resources
This task is about features that insects have that can protect them from animals that might eat them.
Insects are often food for other animals.
They have different ways of keeping themselves safe from animals that might eat them.
 
a)
Draw lines to match each insect to the way its colours and shape help protect it from its enemies.
 
  i)
The gum emperor moth is a dull brown.
It lays its eggs in gum trees. 
Butterfly
 
 
  
♦  Its colour makes it hard to see.
 
 
 ii)
The monarch butterfly is orange and black. It likes to lays its eggs on the green swan plant. 
Butterfly
 
 
  
♦  The pattern on its wings looks like big eyes.
  iii)
Green planthoppers feed on the sap of plants. 
Butterfly
 
 
  
♦  It looks like a part of the plant it lives on.
  iv)
The brown cabbage tree moth rests on dead cabbage tree leaves. 
Butterfly
 
  
♦  Its bright colours warn that it is poisonous
    or tastes nasty.
 
 
 
Stick Insect
 
 
Stick insects can be brown or green. They eat the leaves of trees and shrubs.
 
b)
 
Describe two ways a stick insect is protected from its enemies.
 
  1.
 
 
 
 
 
 
  2.
 
 
 
 
 
Copyright: 
Butterfly
Image source: Land Care Research
 

Butterfly

Image source: Land Care Research
 
Butterfly
Image source: Land Care Research
 
Butterfly
Image source: Land Care Research
 
Stick Insect
Image source: Land Care Research
Level:
2
Curriculum info: 
Science, Investigating in science, Living World
Keywords: 
ecology, adaptation, survival, camouflage, colouration, insects, butterflies, moths, stick insects, monarch butterflies, gum emperor moths, cabbage tree moths, green planthoppers, observation, inference
Description of task: 
Task: Match insects to their adaptations for protection against enemies, and infer two ways stick insects are adapted for their protection against predators. Assessment focus: using observations to make suggestions about survival methods.
Curriculum Links: 
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
 
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss we can learn about animals by looking at them carefully and suggesting reasons for what we see.
Science capabilities: 
Gather and interpret data
Making Better Sense: 
Butterfies
Answers/responses: 
    Y4 (03/2010)
a)
i)
 
 
 ii)iii)
 iv)
 The pattern on its wings looks like big eyes.Its bright colours warn that it is poisonous or tastes nasty.It looks like a part of the plant it lives on.orIts colour makes it hard to see.It looks like a part of the plant it lives on.orIts colour makes it hard to see. All correct - moderate
b) Answer includes idea of camouflage/blending inorIdentifies either colour or shape as a camouflage strategyorIdentifies both colour and shape as camouflage strategies (best answer)
easy
 difficult
 very difficult
 
Based on a representative sample of 128 students  
 
Background informationThis assessment task includes two aspects of investigating in science; observing and making inferences from evidence. Observation in science involves looking closely, and attending to the relevant details. In this task the relevant details are shape, colouration and patterning. Using evidence to make an inference is more than just guessing. We want students to learn to give a reason for their suggestions.  To do this they need to draw on their observations, what they know about the insect, and their developing personal theories about protection from predators.

The key ideas that are covered in the task are shown in the table below.

Nature of science idea Science concept
Investigating in scienceWe can learn about animals by looking at them carefully and suggesting reasons for what we see. Life processesAnimals have a range of strategies for protecting themselves from their enemies.
Teaching and learning: 

What to look for:

  • Are students able to recognise particular relevant features that protect the insects from their enemies?
  • Are they able to make links between the insects' colouration and where they live/ what they eat?
  • Are they able to give explanations for their theories that draw on the evidence available to them?

It was easier for trial students to recognise (Question a) a correct answer (i.e., matching insects to a protective strategy) than it was to precisely infer (Question b) the strategies from the provided evidence.

Observe insects and other small animals in their natural environment. Sort into groups of those that are difficult to see and those that are not. The first group could then be sorted into further subsets - those that use patterns, shapes or colours to blend into their background. Ask questions that help students make focussed observations, and use these observations to begin developing their own explanations:

  • What do you notice about the pattern on the wings?
  • What do you notice about the leaf we found this insect on?
  • What do you notice about this insect and where it is sitting?
  • Why is it hard to see this insect?
  • What colour is this insect? Why do you think it might be helpful for it to be that colour?
  • When do we use the colour red? What could be a reason that this butterfly has a lot of red colours on its wings?
Diagnostic and formative information: 

A few students had difficulty matching by drawing lines between the featured insect and the statement about adaptations. These students may have been defeated by the assessment strategy of the task rather than their science understanding.

  • One way of scaffolding students is to adapt the task by making two sets of cards that they can physically move to make the matches. Change or edit the resource as required, see Change a resource. Ensure these students are also supported to read the text if necessary.
  • To practise explaining their ideas, students could work in pairs or small groups and explain to their peers why they have made the matches they have. They could then negotiate a group decision.
Diagnostic and formative information Task b)

It was difficult for students to identify both features that contribute to the stick insect's ability to blend into its surroundings. Interestingly, more identified its shape than colour, even though colour was mentioned in the written text. Students may have attended to the photograph or the name of the insect more than the written text. The table below shows the breakdown of the types of responses given by the 79 trial students who answered this question correctly or partially.

Strategy described by student Number of students Examples of responses
Identified colour and shape (best answer) 13 It can change colour to brown and green, so it can be hard to see. It looks like sticks on the trees so it can be hard to see.It looks like a stick, so if something came to get them it will just think it's a stick. Its colours can protect them by camouflaging on a plant or dirt/soil.
Identified colour (identified one feature) 16 Stick insects protect themselves by blending in the trees. The brown ones blend in the branches and the green ones blend in the leaves.It will be camouflaged because it is the same colour as plants.
Identified shape (identified one feature) 24 You can't find the stick insect because they look like sticks and they could hide in the trees.It is disguised as a stick.
Identified or inferred camouflage without describing the mechanism 26 It could hide in trees with lots of leaves.It can tramp along the ground without being noticed.It is camouflaged.

A few students also inferred other strategies from the pictures, or suggested others that could have been valid.

Examples of other responses Diagnostic information
You can't find them because they run fast. This answer may or may not be correct. There is no evidence to support it.
Since it's 1cm it would be hard to see. This answer cues a Communicating in science problem. The scale has been noticed (which is a positive step, particularly at Level 2), but has been misinterpreted to mean that the insect is 1 cm long.
It has spikes on its legs so if an animal sees it, it can spike the predator. This is a reasonable assumption to make from the photograph provided, and indicates the student is aware that some insects have other protective features. Observing a real stick insect would be one way to encourage this student to reconsider her idea.
Next steps: 

Introduce the word "camouflage", or, if students have used it, check their understanding of the word – that it involves blending into the background, and this can be done in various ways

  • Pictures of animals that use this strategy are a useful discussion starter
  • Use cards to match animals (including insects) to the background they live
  • To develop the idea that camouflage can have purposes other than protection, provide a picture of a predator (e.g. a tiger) blending into the background. Why might it be useful for this animal to be camouflaged? (So it is easier to catch its prey.)
  • Discuss how camouflage is one adaptation some animals have for protection from enemies. From Question a), identify the insects that use colours and patterns to frighten their enemies. How is this different from camouflage?

Encourage students to be precise about their answers. If they discuss camouflage or being able to blend in to their surroundings, ask them how the stick insect (or the animal being discussed) can manage to do this.

Ask students who give examples of protective features or behaviour that are not obvious from the pictures to explain why they have given this answer. Observation of live insects or relevant nature videos may help them confirm or rethink their initial suggestion.

Science exemplars:Crabs http://www.tki.org.nz/r/assessment/exemplars/sci/living/lw_2d_e.php provides an example of a Level 2 students' observational drawing of the structure of a crab, and his explanations about his observations. Progress indicators are provided.

CamouflageFor other ARB resources about camouflage, click on the link or search Living World and use the keyword camouflage.

The following Building Science Concepts books address adaptations, including camouflage.
  • Ministry of Education (2001). Fur, feathers and bark. Wellington: Learning Media.
  • Ministry of Education (2003). Slugs and snails. Wellington: Learning Media.
  • Ministry of Education (2004). Spiders Everywhere. Wellington: Learning Media.
  • Ministry of Education (2001).  Making Better Sense of the Living World. Wellington: Learning Media. See the section on Self-protection, Mimicry, and Camouflage, pages 64-67.