Lots of grasshoppers are around when school opens in August. Students catch them and show them to me. Have you ever tried to catch a grasshopper? It's hard to do! Why is catching a grasshopper so hard to do?
We looked closely at the grasshopper's body and observed its behaviors. We recorded observations in our science notebooks. We think grasshoppers are green so they blend into their environment. And, they have super strong back legs so they can jump away from predators.
We looked closely at the grasshopper's body and observed its behaviors. We recorded observations in our science notebooks. We think grasshoppers are green so they blend into their environment. And, they have super strong back legs so they can jump away from predators.
To test our ideas, grade 2 students investigated camouflage using colored toothpicks to represent grasshoppers. When teacher hid 300 colored toothpicks in the grass (50 of each color), we only found 18 of the 50 green toothpicks! Working in small groups, we graphed our data. Then put all the data together to make a class graph. We used this data as evidence to support our claim that camouflage really does help creatures hide from predators.
How do other creatures defend themselves against predators? Students did some research to find out (see Ranger Rick magazines). They posted creature defenses on sticky notes on a class chart. We reflected on all the many different ways nature has solved the problem of defense. So many different creatures, so many ways to defend!