Activity: Protective Coloring
- The group will observe how camouflage can protect insects from predators.
- Students will observe and identify the characteristics that help insects survive.
- Science
- 3rd grade: 3.1.b, 3.2.b, 3.3.c, 3.9.a, 3.9.b
- 4th grade: 4.1.b, 4.2.b, 4.3.c, 4.8.a, 4.8.b
- 5th grade: 5.1.b, 5.2.b, 5.3.c, 5.9.a, 5.9.c
- Four slices of bread
- Food coloring: red, blue, green
- Cookie sheet(s)
- Preparation: On the day before activity, break each slice of bread into 20 pieces, keeping them separate. Leave one slice of bread (pieces) white. The other three will be colored.
- To color bread pieces: mix together 1/4 cup water and 10 drops of food coloring (red, blue or green). Soak the pieces of bread in the food coloring/water mixture. Spread the pieces onto a cookie sheet and allow them to air dry overnight.
- Instructions:
- Select an area outdoors with short grass and where birds have been known to visit.
- Choose four areas about 6 feet apart, and place the bread in a circle of about 12 inches in diameter (one color per circle).
- Ask the students what they think will happen to the bread.
- Leave the bread in place for 4 hours. Then have students harvest any remaining pieces.
- Have the students record the number of pieces for each color of bread. Which bread pieces were consumed? Were there more pieces left of any color? The students should see that more of the blue, red and white pieces were eaten, while the green ones were not as popular. The green was camouflaged in the grass and more difficult for the birds to see.
- Science
- 3.1.b, 3.2.b, 3.2.c, 3.2.d, 3.3.c, 3.9.a, 3.9.b
- 4.1.b, 4.2.b, 4.2.c, 4.2.d, 4.3.c, 4.8.a, 4.8.b
- 5.1.b, 5.2.b, 5.2.c, 5.2.d, 5.3.c, 5.9.a, 5.9.c
- 15 to 30 pieces of round colored candy such as Skittles or M&Ms, or small pieces of colored paper for each round of the game
- Large sheets of paper in colors to match the candy or the small pieces of paper
- Blindfolds
- Stopwatch/timer 30
- This activity can be done for each individual student or for groups of students. You can vary the length of time for the experiment to see the differences in foraging when there are time constraints.
- Before beginning, explain the activity to the students.
- Give one student or a group of students a sheet of large colored paper.
- Blindfold a student or group of students.
- Have the non-blindfolded students scatter 15 to 30 pieces of candy or small pieces of paper onto the large colored sheet.
- Set the timer for 15 seconds, 30 seconds or 1 minute.
- Say go, and start the timer.
- The blindfolded students should remove the blindfolds and begin picking up the pieces of candy (they can either set it aside or eat it your choice) or paper one at a time off the large sheet.
- At the end of the time period, stop the students.
- All of the students should then sort the leftover candy or pieces of paper by color and count the number of each color that was left on the paper.
- The idea is that more of the colored candy pieces or pieces of paper that match the color of the large colored paper will remain at the end of the time period because they blend with the background and are harder to spot. Usually, more is left of the colored candy or paper that closely matches the background color.
- Discuss how this activity can relate to the color of insects. Does the color of an insect help protect it from predators?
-
The fire ant eXtension youth team would love some feedback from your experience. Please contact Paul Nester (p-nester@tamu.edu) with questions, comments, testimonials, and particularly images of your students' accomplishments and the students engaging in this activity. If you send images that include students, please be sure that parental approval has been given to use the image. Most schools routinely have parents sign a photographic release form. If you are unsure whether a permission form has been completed, you can use this form and send it along with the image: Photography Release Form
Browse related Articles by tag:
fire ants, fire ants youth
