Lesson Title: Camouflage vs. Migrations: Are Some Adaptations Better Than Others?
By: Kathy True
Instructional Coach: Jenina Sorenson
Brief Description: The students will participate in variation of the predator/prey macaroni
activity to engage their thinking on camouflage. Plus, they will be studying how their body
gives them clues, such as an “empty stomach”, to engage their thinking on why animals
migrate. Students will create questions for us to observe and research. They will study various
animals from around the world that migrate or are camouflaged using the website
kidsplanet.org. Then they will create their own camouflaged animal and study the migration of
the monarch butterfly through Journey North. This lesson will require the students to critically
think about the adaptations animals a have and how useful they are. I am focusing on
camouflage and migration because they are very well known, even if they are not really
understood. This lesson will help the students understand the adaptations and then give them
the opportunity to research animals that have the adaptations. After all of the research and
activities the students will be asked to evaluate the adaptations. Which one is better,
camouflage or migration? There is no real answer to this question but it will force the kids to
elaborate on their understanding and critically think about the benefits of adaptations as a
whole.
Grade Level: 4th
Essential Question: Why do animals have adaptations? How do adaptations help animals?
Student Objectives with GLE’s:


(4.1.A.a) Identify ways a specific organism may interact with other organisms or with
the environment. Objective: The students will identify and evaluate animal adaptations
and how they adaptations help the animal survive in its environment.
(4.3.C.c) Identify internal cues and external cues that cause organisms to behave in
certain ways. Objective: The students will research and identify environmental and
physical cues that encourage animals to migrate.
Featured Textbook and Resources:
Scott Foresman’s 4th grade textbook: Chapter 1, Lesson 5, pg.26-33
Kidsplanet.org
Jouneynorth.org
Curiosity.discovery.com
Sheddaquarium.org
Spaceplace.nasa.gov/migration/en
Nationalgeographic.com/kids/animals
Science notebook
Featured Picture Books:
The Journey of a Butterfly by Carolyn Scarce
(The rest of the books are in the back of the lesson where I layout the books for each of the
research stations and the questions that will go with them.)
Time Needed: Most of the lesson will be complete in four 45 minute science sessions, so I will
have completed these lessons by the beginning of September. Though, the Monarch
observations will continue through September.
Academic Vocabulary Words:

Ecosystem: A biological community of interacting organisms and their physical
environment.






Habitat: the place and natural conditions in which plants and animals live
Adaptations: The action or process of adapting or being adapted.
Camouflage: the disguise where and animal imitates its surroundings
Migration: the natural movement of animals from one place to another
Predators: animals hunting other animals
Prey: animals being hunted
Depth of Knowledge: Most of the project will stay at level 2 DOK while the students ask and
research animal’s adaptation questions on Camouflage and migration. The elaboration section
will increase DOK to 3 because they will be applying their knowledge to create a new animal
and continually observe the migration of Monarchs. The test at the end will have mostly DOK 2
multiple choice questions, but the persuasive paragraph is DOK 3, depending on the ability of
the child.
Materials Needed: Science Notebook, all the resources in the “Featured Textbook” section,
GPS, Kesler, Sugar water, shallow plates, Animal Research sheets, macaroni noodle in various
colors, graph paper, wrist watch, computers, and books listed in stations.
Lesson Narrative:
Engage: Camouflage vs. Migration will occur after two previous lessons on habitats and
adaptations. In the previous lesson, the class has already done a KWL on animal adaptations, so
I will be building from that previous KWL. In addition to the KWL chart the students will
participate in the following activities. Camouflage: I will be adapting the Predator /Prey lesson
presented in class. I am going to mark a large square area on a grassy field. I will spread out
color macaroni noodles in the grass. The macaroni will be colored red, orange, yellow, green
and blue. The green and blue will be dyed darkly to make is blend better with the grass. The
students will be asked to stand around the outline of the square and instructed to grab as many
noodles as possible when I say go. The will be hawks looking for mice in the field. I will give the
students 30 seconds to look for their noodles. They will put these noodles in a baggie with their
names on them and turn them into me. We will play the game three times. After we have
played the game three times we will go inside and record our data. The students will create bar
graphs showing how many macaroni noodles in the different colors they were able to find,
while I collect their data to create a class graph using excel. I will display the class graph and we
will discuss the data. Which color was the hardest to find? Why was it hard? How can you tell
it was the hardest color to find? If you were a hawk what color would you wish a mouse to be?
If you were a mouse what color would you want to be? Migration: I really liked an idea I read
off Journey North on getting the kids to think about why animals migrate, so I am going to do
the activating to engage the students in thinking about animal behavior. A couples days prior
to the lesson I will cover or remove all the clocks in the room. The students will be asked to tell
the Scientist (a job in my class for recording data we are observing) when they feel hungry. The
students may only interrupt the Scientist once during the day. The Scientist will record the time
(using a watch only they can wear, on a class list next to the name of the student who reported
hunger. The day of the lesson I will have the Scientist share the data with the class. During
which hour of the day did the most students say they were hungry? What do we do when we
get hungry? “we eat” I will then ask them to find food in our classroom habitat. They may find
food on my desk, but it will not be enough to feed the whole class. If we can’t find food in our
habitat what are we going to do? What would an animal do? After we have done and
discussed these two engaging activities I will ask the students to come up with more questions
they would want answered about animals, what they look like and what they do. We will post
these questions on the research wall (a door in the library of my room where I have research
book and computers). I will plant the questions “Do animals only migrate because they are
hungry?” and “Why do some animals have camouflage while others are very brightly colored?”
Formative Assessment: Are the students using vocabulary from previous lessons: adaptation,
habitat? Do they already know quite a bit about camouflage or migration? Do they have any
misconceptions I need to address? I will hear the answer to these as I work with the students
on the KWL chart and on their questions.
Explore: After discussing the questions and assigning some of the questions the researchers I
will say that two of the questions will need every body’s assistance. I will point out the two
planted questions and ask the students what they think about them. Can we observe a ton of
animals here in the classroom to find these answers? We will use books and computers to do
our research. I will introduce the students to the website listed in the resources section and
hand them their research factsheet. On the sheet will be fifteen animals from around the
world. Five will use camouflage, five will migrate, and for the last five I will ask the students to
pick “weird and interesting” animals of their own to share with me and their class.
Explain: The students will be researching in small groups at different stations. While one group
is online looking up individual animals on kidsplanet.com the rest of the students will be at
three other stations. The stations will rotate so that every kid will get to every station.
Camouflage station: station with books on camouflage. Prior to the lesson I will put sticky
notes in books that help answer some of the questions we created as a part of our engagement
activities. The students will read the books and record their new learning in their science
notebooks. Migration station: this station will be the same as the camouflage station. Note
taking station: this station will be with me. I am going to guide the student on taking notes
using the Scotts Foresman book. As a small group we will read sections of Chapter 1 Lesson 5,
pages 26-33. We will take notes on main idea and supporting details on different adaptations
that animals have. Most of the vocabulary the students would need they learned in the first
lessons: habitat, environment, adaptation, physical, behavioral, and migration. Formative
Assessment: Every session will end ten minutes before Science is over. The students will share
with the group what they have learned. Did we answer any of our questions? The two main
questions will get their own chart paper and we will add information to the paper as we study
the adaptations.
Elaborate: There are two different activities the students will participate in to elaborate on
these adaptations. Camouflage: In the previous lesson on habitats the students were asked to
create habitats in shoeboxes. To elaborate on camouflage I am asking the students to create a
new animal whose camouflage will help conceal it in their habitats. After they have created
their new animal they will incorporate it into their habitat. I will warn them that after they
have added the new animal I am going to send other kids to try and find it. The students with
the hardest to find animal will win a special prize. “oohhhh, ahhhhh.” The scoring guide for
their new animal is attached at the end of this lesson. Migration: I am going to read the book
The Journey of a Butterfly by Carolyn Scarce to the class. As I read I am going to stop to talk
about the geographical location mentioned in the book using a large North American map I
have. “The Monarch butterfly is an animal that migrates through our area, so we can watch a
part of its great adventure. We will be recording the butterflies we see and posting their
locations on a web site.” I will then show the students Journey North. We will look at the post
that have already been written and the map on the site. Are there any sightings by us? In
order to encourage the butterflies to land where we can see and record them we are going to
create butterfly feeding stations around the building. We will set sugar water in shallow dishes
and place them at various locations around the building, but near windows so we can monitor
them throughout the day. The Scientist will be expected to check the stations once a day (stay
in the station for at least five minutes) and record what they see on a record sheet I have
attached to the end of this lesson. They will also have to check and make sure we still have
solution in the dish. I am sure they will be recording tons of bug sightings but we will focus on
just monarch butterflies. If there are sightings at other times we will of course add them to our
data. We will use the GPS to find the longitude and latitude of each of the feeding stations as
we create them. If some stations are not attracting butterflies we will do some research and
plan another means for attracting butterflies. If other butterflies are sighted at the school (like
during recess) I will give the observer the GPS so we can mark the location of the sighting
accurately. I just hope I remember to take the GPS unit with me to recess every day. At the
end of every day we will report finding if we have them and check to see if any other interesting
sightings have be reported.
Evaluate: The students will already be taking a District Common Assessment on Habitats and
Animals that I have attached to the end of this lesson. In addition I will be asking them to write
persuasive paragraphs on the two adaptations we have focused on. “Which adaptation is
better?” The students will be asked to write a paragraph explain which adaptation, camouflage
or migration, they think helps the animals the most. Prior to writing it I will tell them that
either adaptation is good but I am looking to see if they can use our new scientific
understanding and vocabulary to explain their thinking. They must pick one of the adaptations
and list three of its strengths. Scoring guide is attached at the end of this lesson.
Misconceptions: Animals with specialized color are only for camouflage. I will address this
when the students are explaining their learning. Were there any animals that had special
coloring for something other than camouflage? What about warning colors? Animals only
migrate for food. Several of the animals in the research migrate for reproduction, temperature,
drought… Students may also think that only birds migrate but the research will point out
several other types of animals migrate as well.
Safety: I can think of very few safety hazards that will occur during these lessons. The students
may be tempted to go to unsafe internet sites but they will be monitored closely. I will also
always send my kids in pairs to check the butterfly stations so I will not need to worry aobut
sending them to unsafe or unsupervised locations.
Reading Comprehension Strategies: Determining Importance: many of the books in my station
and the web research sites will have prepare questions and topics of study. Synthesize: the
students will apply their knowledge to their elaboration and evaluation projects. Questioning:
We will question our knowledge and compare it to new knowledge and identify commonalities
in resources.
General Suggestion for Students and Teachers: Have clear questions, get to the point and
keep it on one adaptation. Each question should have a narrow focus in the beginning. Give
every student an opportunity to locate the feeders using the class’s GPS. Make sure to have
pre-set questions for the students who are unfocused or have a hard time thinking of
something to study. Each of the members of the research team should have a job: supplier,
manager, recorder, reporter…
Bibliography of more information: Locate “weird” animals around the world and research
their different adaptations and how they apply in their habitats.
How to Hide a Parakeet & Other Birds by Ruth Heller
The Magic School Bus: Butterfly and the Bog Beast by Scholastic
Hungry Little Hare by Howard Goldsmith
How to Hide a Crocodile & Other Reptiles by Ruth Heller
Animals in the Fall by Gail Saunders-Smith
Nature’s Paintbrush: The Patterns and Colors Around You by Susan Stockdale
Green Tree Frogs: Colorful Hiders by Natalie Lunis
Katydids: Leaf Look-alikes by Natalie Lunis
Animals in Disguise: Fish by Lynn Stone
3D Snapshots: Bugs by Fog City Press
The Great Migration by Jonathan Scott
The Journey: Stories of Migration by Cynthia Rylant
Migration with the Monarch Butterfly by Thessaly Catt
Why do the Geese Fly South in Winter? A Book about Migration by Kathy Allen
The Journey of a Whale by Carolyn Scarce
Student Pages:
Camouflage Animal Scoring Guide:
Grade
E (exceeds
expectations)
M (meets
expectations)
W (working
towards
expectations)
New animal is
the same color
as the rest of the
habitat but it is
very easy to find.
N (does not
meet
expectations)
New animal is
not the same
color as the rest
of the habitat
and is easy to
find.
Camouflage
New animal
blends in with
the surrounding
habitat in the
box. It has the
same coloring of
the plants and
environment.
Plus, animal has
at least one
more adaptation
to help it survive
in the habitat
New animal
blends in with
the surrounding
habitat in the
box. It has the
same coloring of
the plants and
environment.
M
Pick either
camouflage or
migration with
three supporting
details.
W
Pick one
adaptation with
two supporting
details
N
Write about both
adaptations with
one or less
supporting
details
Write a
argumentative
thesis statement.
All sentences are
complete and
have transition
words
Write a
argumentative
thesis statement.
All sentences are
complete
Write a
argumentative
thesis statement.
Some sentences
are complete
2-3 spelling,
capitalization,
4 spelling,
capitalization,
5 or more
spelling,
Persuasive paragraph:
Topic
Construction
Conventions
E
Pick either
camouflage or
migration with
three supporting
details. Name
animal examples
and habitats
from research
Write a
argumentative
thesis statement.
All sentences are
complete and
have transition
words. Have a
conclusion
sentence
0-1 spelling,
capitalization,
and punctuation
mistakes
and punctuation
mistakes
and punctuation
mistakes
capitalization,
and punctuation
mistakes
Camouflage Station: These are the books that I will use in this station and the questions I will
post in the book if the students do not think of questions the books could have answers.
Camouflage by Steve Parker: pg. 8 For animals like the Mallard Duck why do the babies have
special camouflage colors? Pg. 10 How did the moths on this page change their camouflage
colors through generations?
Can You See Me? By Shirley Greenway: pg. 26 Is camouflage just about coloring?
Hide and Seek: Animals in Disguise by Valerie Davies: Pg 4 & 9 How are the birds in the
European Woodland and the Dessert alike? Why? Pg. 9 & 17 How are the birds in the European
woodlands and the Polar Tundras different? Why?
Camouflage In The Wild: Hiding Out by James Martin: pg. 25 Does the King snake’s special
coloring help it blend in? What does it help it do?
Migration Station: These are the books that I will use in this station and the questions I will
post in the book if the students do not think of questions the books could have answers.
On the Move by Andrew Einspruch: pg. 6 List three reasons why animals migrate. Pg. 20 why do
Sea Turtles migrate? Pg. 12 Why do Locusts migrate?
How do Birds Find Their Way? By Roma Gans: Pg. 16 What do some birds use as a guide while
they are migrating so they do not get lost? Pg. 18 What do birds use to guide them at night? Pg.
27 What do the birds do to prepare for the migration?
Animal Migration by Janet McDonnell: Pg. 12 Why do the caribou migrate? Pg. 14 Why do Red
crabs breed? How long does the trip take?
Animal Research: Use the website to find your information.
Animals with Camouflage:
Animal: Walking Stick
Ecosystem:
How does the animal blend in?
How does it help the animal?
Additional Adaptations
Animal: Boreal Owl
Ecosystem:
How does the animal blend in?
How does it help the animal?
Additional Adaptations
Animal: Dragon Moray Eel
Ecosystem:
How does the animal blend in?
How does it help the animal?
Additional Adaptations
Animal: Polar Bear
Ecosystem:
How does the animal blend in?
How does it help the animal?
Additional Adaptations
Animal: Geckos
Ecosystem:
How does the animal blend in?
How does it help the animal?
Additional Adaptations
Animals that Migrate
Animal: Light Bellied Brent Geese
Why does it migrate?
Where does it migrate to?
Animal: Monarch Butterfly
Why does it migrate?
Where does it migrate to?
Animal: Northern right whale
Why does it migrate?
Where does it migrate to?
Animal: Green Sea Turtle
Why does it migrate?
Where does it migrate to?
Animal: Porcupine Caribou
Why does it migrate?
Where does it migrate to?
Animal: Green sea turtle
Why does it migrate?
Where does it migrate to?
Your Animals
Animal:
Habitat:
What adaptations does this animal have?
Animal:
Habitat:
What adaptations does this animal have?
Animal:
Habitat:
What adaptations does this animal have?
Animal:
Habitat:
What adaptations does this animal have?
Animal:
Habitat:
What adaptations does this animal have?
Butterfly Recording Sheet
Date:
Feeding Station:
Number of Monarch Butterflies:
Temperature:
Wind speed: