Step 1: Assessing Prior Knowledge About Camouflage
Begin by asking students what they know about camouflage. Write responses
on the board and accept all answers. Tell students they will now see a
video clip showing how some animals camouflage themselves. Insert the
video Reading Rainbow Opt: An Illusionary Tale into your VCR. Provide
students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, by asking them to
view a short video clip and list different ways in which animals camouflage
themselves.
With SOUND OFF, START the video when you see the camera zooming
in on a rocky field, and after you hear the narrator say, "...to
hide from their enemies."
STOP when you see a bird sitting on a branch above a camouflaged
insect. Write students responses on the board. (Possible student responses
include blending in with the surface they are on, looking like a stick,
looking like a leaf, and being as white as the snow around them.)
Now, REWIND and REPLAY the segment with SOUND ON.
Ask students to add anything new they have heard.
Step 2:
Tell students they are going to be eagles who are hunting for pikas, animals
that may be camouflaged. Before they can begin to hunt, though, they must
learn something about their prey to be effective hunters. Divide students
into groups of three. Hand out the Role Cards and have students read aloud
their roles to their teammates. Ask the Materials Managers to get the
Pika Charts from the materials station and hand them out to their teammates.
Have the class as a whole brainstorm categories of information about any
animal they might study to write on their charts. The first category (diet)
is given on the chart. INSERT the video Pika: Ice Age Survivor
into your VCR. Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION,
asking them to view a short video clip and gather information so they
can make predictions about the categories of pika behavior on their charts.
START the Pikas: Ice Age Survivor video from the beginning at the
map and the words "World of Nature." PAUSE when you see
a close-up of a pika and you hear the narrator say, "This is a pika."
Tell students to begin writing. Circulate around the room. If students
are unsure of what kinds of categories to list, you can suggest some of
these: size, locomotion (how it moves), nesting, activity cycle (diurnal-day
or nocturnal-night), temperature regulation (warm-blooded or cold-blooded),
reproduction (eggs or babies), and communication (vocal, visual, scent).
After five minutes, ask the three members of each team to share with each
other. Have them add new categories to their charts. Let them know that
differences in predictions are okay.
Step 3:
Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking them
to view an additional video clip and then add to or change their pika
charts.
RESUME where you paused. PAUSE when you see a pika disappear
into some rocks and hear the narrator say, "Here the winters are
very long and very cold."
Allow students five minutes to add to or change their pika charts. (Some
facts that are heard are: smaller than rabbits, scurries over rocks, short
round ears, digs burrows or lives in holes surrounded by storehouse of
grass, tufts of hair on feet, spends most time outdoors collecting grass,
lives in cold climates high on mountains, or far north in Alaska or Siberia.)
Again, give teams time to share what they heard and add to their charts.
Step 4:
Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking them
to explain how pikas are able to survive the very long and cold winters.
RESUME where you had paused. PAUSE when you hear the music
end and you hear the narrator say, "...store it in rocky crevices
and caves." The camera will pull back from an image of a pika chewing
grass. (Some of the facts heard are that pikas spend the short summer
collecting grass; they cut down all the grass and flowers they can find,
and store it in rocky crevices and caves.) Ask for answers, write them
on the board, and give students time to add to their charts.
Step 5:
Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking them
how a pika stores its grass. RESUME where you had paused. STOP
when you see the camera pull back to show the red pails in the foreground,
and you hear the narrator say, "...the red pails, another."
(Pikas create several storage piles, each hidden throughout its territory.)
Ask for answers, write them on the board, and give students time to add
to their charts.
Step 6:
Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking them
to determine which predators hunt and eat pikas. FAST FORWARD to
when you see two eagles soaring, and you hear the narrator say, "...watch
for other enemies as well."
PLAY when you hear the narrator saying, "Eagles, hawks, and
owls can all swoop down from the sky and attack. PAUSE when you
see a close-up of a pika and you hear the narrator say, "...and the
short chase is over." (Pika predators include eagles, hawks, owls,
and ermines. Ask for answers, write them on the board, and give students
time to add to their charts.)
Step 7:
Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION , asking them
to determine when pikas are most likely to be attacked. RESUME where
you paused.
PAUSE when you see a pika running off with another's grass and
you hear the narrator say, "...and everyone raids its storage pile."
(Pikas are most likely to be attacked when they are collecting food.)
Ask students to predict if there will be a difference in the number of
pikas captured by eagles on rock ground versus grassy areas. Have students
give evidence to support their predictions.
Step 1:
Tell students that each group's eagle will now hunt and catch pikas so
we can test their predictions. Assign groups to either the rocky or grassy
habitat (you will most likely have to go outside for this portion of the
lesson). Ask managers to get 20 straws and one pair of tongs. Have students
enter how many pikas they will be starting with in their Pika Population
Growth Table for Generation 1 (twenty). Have students bring their materials
outdoors.
Generation 1: Ask Game Wardens to scatter twenty drinking straws
over their habitats. These drinking straws represent pikas and will be
hunted by the eagles in the groups. Let them know they will be given a
time limit of five seconds. Once the signal is given, they should "capture"
pikas with their talons (tongs) and bring them back to their nests (hand
them to the Game Warden). At the second signal, stop hunting and put down
the tongs.
Step 2:
Generation 2: It's Pika breeding season. Have your students count
the number of uncaught pikas (remaining adults) in the habitat and add
twice as many (babies) to the habitat (e.g., if there are 13 pikas left,
add 26 more). The total population for Generation 2 is now the remainder
plus the new ones (e.g., 13 + 26 = 39). Ask students to enter this number
in their Pika Population Growth Table for Generation 2. Eagles again hunt
as in Generation 1.
Generation 3: It's Pika breeding season again. Have your students
count the number of pikas left and add twice as many to the habitat. Ask
students to enter the total number in their Pika Population Growth Table
for Generation 3. Eagles again hunt as in Generation 1.
Generation 4: It's Pika breeding season yet again. Count the number
of pikas left and add twice as many to the habitat. Ask students to enter
the total number in their Pika Population Growth Table for Generation
4. Eagles again hunt as in Generation 1.
Generation 5: This will be the final pika breeding season. Have
your students count the number of pikas left and add twice as many to
the habitat. Ask students to enter the total number in their Pika Population
Growth Table for Generation 5.
Step 3: Data Entry and Graphing
Bring the students back inside. Have students graph their five generations
of data by hand or enter their data into the spreadsheet.
Step 4: Data Analysis
Have students work with their teams and write the answers to the following
questions:
- How does color of the habitat affect the ability of a pika to avoid
predation?
- Was there a trend (pattern) in your population size from generation
1 through 5? If so, what do you predict the population size will be
at generation 10?
- If eagles need to eat 15 pikas out of each generation to survive,
would the eagle in your group have survived?
- What would happen if the following environmental factors changed:
Annual temperature, annual rainfall, amount of time sunlight fell
on the area, different soil type, ratio of animal to plant life?
Allow time for discussion of these questions. If there are striking differences
between teams, push students to explore possible reasons
Step 1: Internet Research Jigsaw
Let students know they will now conduct Internet research. Assign Web
site "A" (see Media Components, above) to Materials Managers,
"B" to Game Wardens, and "C" to Eagles. Reorganize
the teams so that Materials Managers are working together, Game Wardens
are working together, and Eagles are working together.
Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION, asking them
to spend 15 minutes on researching their assigned Web sites to determine
if the information in their pika charts is correct, and adding as much
new information as possible. When 15 minutes are up, bring the teams together
again to teach each other. Students should make the necessary corrections
and additions to their charts during the sharing.
Step 2:
Tell students that since they now have a good understanding of camouflage
and pikas, they should be able to predict what pikas will look and behave
like in different environments. Tell students that while most pikas
live in dry, rocky areas, the northern pika lives in the forests of
Siberia and China. Have students discuss with their teammates what they
know about forest habitats and to predict what these pikas would look
and behave like. Have teams report out, giving evidence for their predictions.
Provide students with a FOCUS FOR MEDIA INTERACTION by asking
them to compare their prediction with what they hear and see in the
video. FAST FORWARD to where you see a map of Asia and North
America, and you hear the narrator say, "There are 16 different
types of pika..." PLAY the tape. STOP when you see
the split screen of three types of pika and you hear the narrator say,
"…store their crop under logs. These pikas are more brownish
and yellow and they hide their grass under logs."
Give time for students to discuss their predictions in light of what
they have seen.
ENGLISH/LANGUAGE ARTS
Students can use the information from their pika charts to write a first-"person"
narrative of a day in the life of a pika. Students can include photos
from the Hokkaido Photo Gallery (see below) or Kazimir Majorinc Public
Source Pictures (see below), or they can draw, sketch, or paint their
own pika illustration. Students can also use Coal Creek Elementary School
site (see below) to see examples from elementary school children.
Coal Creek Elementary School
http://bvsd.k12.co.us/schools/coalc/wildlife/pika.html
This site features three stories/descriptions of pikas by eight- and
nine-year-olds with accompanying photos and drawings by the children.
Hokkaido Photo Gallery
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/zombi/gallery/animal/pika.02l.html
Site has a variety of photos of pikas.
Kazimir
Majorinc Public Source Pictures
http://public.srce.hr/XIIIgim/pictures/pika/
Site has a variety of pika photos, drawings, stories, and information.
Note to Teacher:
Be sure that students who choose to include photos or other copied resources
from Web sites cite them properly!
TECHNOLOGY
Post the stories created in the above cross-curricular connection on
your school's Web site and/or organize students to print and publish
them as a class book.
- Visit a local zoo and discuss camouflage of pikas and other animals.
- Research the history of Coney Island and how it got its name. One
suggestion is that is was named for the conies, or pikas, that lived
there. One Web site is:
Coney Island History Articles
http://naid.sppsr.ucla.edu/coneyisland/histart.htm
|
