Science Lesson: Animal Camouflage
This is a brief summary of the lesson plan, including core decisions related to lesson planning and the plan itself. It was revised based on feedback from my science methods professor, Classroom Mentor, and Penn Mentor.
Please click here to view the entire lesson plan with comments and revisions from my methods professor and myself.
Please click here to view the entire lesson plan with comments and revisions from my methods professor and myself.
Core Decisions in Lesson Planning
Teacher's camouflage example.
What
Camouflage is a way that animals protect themselves from predators by blending into their environment. The students will participate in an interactive read-aloud of the book Hide and Seek. They will “find the animal” in a series of pictures, then discuss the function of camouflage. Finally, they will color an elephant to camouflage in an area of the room.
How
I will introduce the concept of camouflage by showing the students a slideshow of camouflaged animals, then reading several pages of Hide and Seek. In both activities, the students will give a “silent thumbs up” if they see a hidden animal. I will ask individual students to point to the animals. After looking at the pictures, I will lead the students in a discussion about how animals hide themselves and the function of camouflage, teaching the term "camouflage" explicitly. Finally, the students will color an elephant to camouflage it somewhere in the room.
Why
My students have a substantial amount of knowledge about animals and the various places where animals live. I want to enhance their understanding of habitat by introducing them to the idea that camouflage is helpful for animals to live where they live. Finding camouflaged animals requires careful observation, which is the main process goal for this lesson. This lesson connects to the kindergarten science curriculum, which includes units on observation using the five senses and animal habitats.
Camouflage is a way that animals protect themselves from predators by blending into their environment. The students will participate in an interactive read-aloud of the book Hide and Seek. They will “find the animal” in a series of pictures, then discuss the function of camouflage. Finally, they will color an elephant to camouflage in an area of the room.
How
I will introduce the concept of camouflage by showing the students a slideshow of camouflaged animals, then reading several pages of Hide and Seek. In both activities, the students will give a “silent thumbs up” if they see a hidden animal. I will ask individual students to point to the animals. After looking at the pictures, I will lead the students in a discussion about how animals hide themselves and the function of camouflage, teaching the term "camouflage" explicitly. Finally, the students will color an elephant to camouflage it somewhere in the room.
Why
My students have a substantial amount of knowledge about animals and the various places where animals live. I want to enhance their understanding of habitat by introducing them to the idea that camouflage is helpful for animals to live where they live. Finding camouflaged animals requires careful observation, which is the main process goal for this lesson. This lesson connects to the kindergarten science curriculum, which includes units on observation using the five senses and animal habitats.
Lesson Plan
(Again, click here to read the entire lesson plan with comments.)
Objectives
Standards
NRC Practices for K-12 Science Classrooms
NRC Cross-cutting Concepts
NSTA Core Ideas: Life Science
Objectives
- SWBAT discuss how and for what purpose animals camouflage themselves.
- SWBAT use careful observation skills and articulate their observations.
- SWBAT design camouflage for an area within the classroom.
Standards
NRC Practices for K-12 Science Classrooms
- Asking questions – The students’ discussion will seek to answer the question “How does camouflage help animals?” Since the students are young, the initial question will be modeled for them by the teacher, but I imagine other questions will come up as students think and talk about camouflage.
- Developing and using models – When the students color an animal to make it camouflaged in part of the room, they are developing a model for camouflage – a tool that helps them understand the concept.
- Constructing explanations and Designing Solutions- Students will construct explanations of the function of camouflage – how it helps animals, why animals would want to be camouflaged, etc.
- Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information – Students will obtain information through observing pictures and communicate information during the group discussion.
NRC Cross-cutting Concepts
- Patterns – Eventually, students will move from an understanding of camouflage to seeing how most animals’ skin or coats are patterned in a way that mimics their habitat and helps them hide.
- Structure and Function – Students will observe and examine how animals blend in, and they will come up with hypotheses about the function of camouflage – how it works and how it benefits the animals.
NSTA Core Ideas: Life Science
- LS1.D: Information Processing – How do organisms detect, process, and use information about the environment?
- LS4.C: Adaptation – This lesson introduces the idea that animals’ ability to hide protects them, which leads to the idea that the animals who camouflage or protect themselves the best are the ones that will survive.
Slideshow of camouflaged animals: Discovery Channel. [http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/curiosity/topics/animal-camouflage-pictures.htm]
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Plan
Activity 1: Slideshow (3 minutes)
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Activity 3: Discussion (8 minutes)
Assessment
- Lead students through a discussion of how animals hide themselves and why animals might want to hide themselves.
- To summarize the discussion, teach the term "camouflage" to the students.
- Explain elephant activity to students. Model by asking students what color they would use to camouflage the elephant on the bulletin board (blue). Ask students to find the elephant I camouflaged before the lesson started.
- Pass out materials; students choose a place to camouflage their elephant and color it accordingly, then tape it to the hiding spot.
- Students take turns pointing out each other's elephants and describing the camouflage.
Assessment
- Informal observation: Participation during read-aloud and discussion. Student’s ability to find the camouflaged animals in the pictures. Student’s articulation of observations and ideas about the function of camouflage.
- Written work: Students will demonstrate proficient understanding of the idea of camouflage by coloring their animals to match the area of the room they have selected as their hiding spot.