Looking for prey

Looking for prey

Pencil and paper
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
These questions relate to a class activity. Your teacher will give you the instructions.
 
a) Complete this table to show the class results.
 
 
b) i)
Which cards (herbivores or warning colouration) were hardest to find?

 
 
 
  ii) Why were these cards hardest to find?

 
 
 
 
 
  iii)
What word is used to describe when an animal's colour is similar to its surroundings?

 
 
 
c)
Some of these animals had bold colour patterns, e.g., red and black.
 
  i)
Name an animal which has a colour pattern like this.

 
 
 
  ii)
Explain why an animal could be protected with such a colour pattern.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Task administration: 
[Equipment: Cardboard cut into 40 pieces of 2 cm × 2 cm; scissors; coloured pencils or felt-tipped pens; 8 cards coloured with warning colouration, e.g., red with black dots, yellow with black stripes.]

  • Take the class outside with their coloured pencils or felt-tipped pens, to look at a grassed area of the school field/play ground, have an area 8 metres by 5 metres marked out. NOTE: This activity could be adapted for use with trees, flax bushes, etc.
  • Tell the students to have a good look at the colours in this area.
  • Give each student a piece of cardboard measuring 2 cm × 2 cm.
  • Tell the students: "Each card represents a herbivore. Colour in your card so that a predator would find it hard to see. If a predator can find your card you could get eaten."
  • Select 10% of your class to be predators, the rest are herbivores.
  • Tell the predators to cover their eyes while the herbivores place their cards within the 8 m by 5 m area. (Herbivores are not allowed to hide their cards under grass, but can put them in the vegetation).
  • Predators have 1 minute to find as many cards (herbivores) as they can.
  • Record the results (how many cards are found).
  • Repeat 2 times, using different groups of students as predators.
  • Record the results each time.
  • For the 4th trial have the 8 warning colouration cards placed in the area also. Record results.
  • Go back inside.
  • Share and display the results but not in the same format as the student table. Your results will need to show the total possible cards that could be found each time, e.g., 11 out of 31 for herbivores, or 6 out of 8 for warning colouration.
Level:
3
Curriculum info: 
Science, Investigating in science, Living World
Keywords: 
ecology, camouflage, warning colouration
Description of task: 
For this practical task the entire class is involved in an outside activity that looks at camouflage and warning colouration. Students then share their results and answer a number of questions.
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 the data collected using this investigative method.
Science capabilities: 
Gather and interpret data
Making Better Sense: 
Camouflage
Answers/responses: 
a) Table completed accurately.
b) i)
ii)
iii)		 From table, herbivore pieces identified.
Same colour as surroundings.
Camouflage.
c) i)
ii)		 E.g., Katipo, Ladybird, etc.
This colour pattern shows that the animal's dangerous/poisonous in some way.