Science and Technology K–6 · Year 5

Camouflage hunt: which colour survives on the grass?

Science understanding: Biological sciences

PracticalLow risk

The idea

Colour that matches the habitat is a survival feature, and counting which coloured items a class of predators finds first turns camouflage into data.

What you need

100 pieces of coloured wool yarn 5 cm long: 20 each of green, brown, yellow, red and blue (not toothpicks or cut pipe-cleaners, whose points and wire ends can puncture skin or injure an eye)
a 5 m x 5 m patch of lawn, marked with cones
a paper bag per hunter
timer
recording table

How to do it

One learner scatters all 100 pieces across the patch while the hunters face away.
Hunters have 30 seconds to collect as many pieces as they can, one at a time, into their bags.
Count the pieces found of each colour and record them; the survivors are the ones still on the grass.
Return the found pieces, scatter again and repeat three rounds. Total the counts.
Graph pieces found by colour and pieces surviving by colour.
Repeat on a different background (a brown mulch bed or a concrete court) and compare which colour survives there.

What you should see

On green grass the green pieces are found least and survive most; red, blue and yellow are found first. On brown mulch the brown pieces survive best and green pieces are found. Totalling three rounds makes the order clearer than one round alone. The finding is that survival depends on the match between colour and background, not on the colour itself.

What changes

What you change: colour of the piece (and the background between trials)
What you measure: number found in 30 seconds and number surviving
What you keep the same: number of each colour
time
hunters
area

Common misconceptions

Each of these ideas is wrong, and the activity is a chance to test it.

Animals choose their colour to hide.
Camouflage means being green.
The best camouflage works everywhere.

Safety card

Low riskLearners carry it out

Hazards

collisions between hunters
small pieces left outdoors
puncture or eye injury if pointed or wire-ended pieces are used

Controls

walk not run
count all pieces back in
soft yarn pieces only

Note

Risk assessment before the lesson using Primary RiskAssess or the school's own template.

Curriculum references

The NSW syllabus outcomes and Australian Curriculum v9 codes this activity supports. They are references, not a verified or complete curriculum alignment.

Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2017), current, taught until 2026; code read from the syllabus document on 22 September 2026ST3-4LW-S ST3-1WS-S
Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024), implemented from 2027; NESA's timeline is 2026 plan and prepare and 2027 start teaching, and schools may choose to implement it during 2026; Stage 3 content: 'Observe behavioural and structural adaptations of plants and animals, and suggest how these may help them survive in their environments', which sits in the focus area whose knowledge outcome is this one; code read from the outcomes page and the content read from the Stage 3 content page on 23 September 2026ST3-SCI-01
Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus (2024), implemented from 2027; NESA's timeline is 2026 plan and prepare and 2027 start teaching, and schools may choose to implement it during 2026; code read from the outcomes page on 22 September 2026ST3-DAT-01
Australian Curriculum v9AC9S5U01AC9S5I01AC9S5I03AC9S5I04AC9S5I05

Sources

The pages the author read to write this activity.

All Concept Studio activities