Expedition camouflage - web text only version
Expedition Camouflage
Your mission:
Go for a walk in your neighbourhood/garden and then repeat the activity in your house.Prepare to go out – you will need:
• The right clothes and shoes for the weather• A phone, or a camera and/or your eyes
• A field note book to make records (paper and pencil)
Camouflage expertise
Make sure you have done the introduction lesson Cunning Camouflage first.
Remember that a snail is not camouflaged against the grass but is camouflaged on a mossy path.
Outdoor expedition
Activity 1. Hide something outside
Pick up a natural treasure that you like – a stone or leaf, twig, stick or feather – and imagine it is a creature.
Can you find somewhere to put it down so it is camouflaged? Try it on different backgrounds.
You can do this with a few different things along the way.
Take photos, if you can, to record your experiments.
Activity 2. Look for camouflaged creatures
Look carefully for hiding camouflaged creatures.
Check:
- Underneath leaves
- Underneath logs and stones
- Up in tree branches or on bark
- In moss
- On walls and buildings (double check any cracks)
If you like, record what you see (‘a brown bug’) and where it was (‘on a brown bin’) in your notebook or try taking a photo.
When you get home WASH YOUR HANDS
Indoor expedition
Activity 1. Hide something in your house
Find a selection of things in your house like a small toy, button, sock, hair band, string, pencil, elastic band, penny.
Can you find places to hide them so they are camouflaged?
What makes things hard to hide? What makes it easy?
Challenge someone else to go on an expedition to find
them again!
Final question
If you did this outside with natural materials and inside with unnatural materials which were easier to hide?
Why do you think that is?