The Mystery of Camouflage

A WebQuest for 2nd Grade Science

Designed by Virginia and Christy Cotton

 

 

Introduction

Welcome to the Camouflage Mystery Club. You and your classmates will investigate animals and insects and how they survive in the wild by using camouflage.  Camouflage is the way that creatures use their coloring and markings to allow them to blend into their environment. As detectives in the Camouflage Mystery Club we will read books, view websites, participate in activities, and discover how to camouflage our own insect.

Task

After researching the mystery of camouflage, your assignment will be to design a camouflaged background for a plastic insect.

Process

  1. First, we will look at examples of the ways that various animals and insects use camouflage techniques.

 

ä      Camouflage Field Book
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/camouflage/camo_more.html

ä      The Art of Camouflage
http://www.arts.ufl.edu/art/rt_room/sparkers/camouflage/camouflage.html

ä      Camouflage Photos
http://www.pansphoto.com/camouflage.htm

ä      Insect Camouflage and Mimicry
http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/camo.html

ä      Cool Camouflage
http://scienceforfamilies.allinfo-about.com/features/coolcamouflage.html

ä      Camouflage Photos and Other Links http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/as/education/projects/webunits/adaptations/camou1.html

ä      Evolution of Camouflage – video clip can be viewed using QuickTime or Real Player
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/library/01/1/l_011_03.html

 

  1. Second, we will read some books about camouflage.

 

Selected bibliography of Camouflage Books http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/camouflage/camobiblio.html

 

  1. Next, we will complete some cool camouflage activities.     

Activities for Camouflage http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/as/education/projects/webunits/adaptations/camouact.html

 

  1. For your final assignment you will be given a plastic insect in a Ziploc bag. You will take this home and find materials such as rocks, leaves, grass, sticks, etc., that will create a camouflaged environment your insect.

                                                                               

Evaluation

The teacher will evaluate the each student based on the following criteria:

 

 

Excellent

 

Fair

 

Needs Improvement

Score

3

2

1

Listening Skills

 

 

 

 

Answering Oral Questions

 

 

 

 

Creativity Using Materials

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

After completing this project you can now consider yourself a member of the Camouflage Mystery Club. Now you know may ways that insects are able to survive in their environment.

 

Credits & References

Animated butterfly courtesy of Barry’s Clip Art http://www.barrysclipart.com.

Beetle and butterfly images courtesy of ClipArt.Com http://www.clipart.com.

 

Please visit The WebQuest Page and the Design Patterns to obtain the latest version of this template and to view other examples of WebQuests.

“We all benefit by being generous with our work. Permission is hereby granted for other educators to copy this WebQuest, update or otherwise modify it, and post it elsewhere provided that the original author's name is retained along with a link back to the original URL of this WebQuest. On the line after the original author's name, you may add Modified by (Virginia and Christy Cotton) on (July 2, 2002). If you do modify it, please let me know and provide the new URL."

 

Last updated on (July 2, 2002). Based on a template from The WebQuest Page