Why Are They Pink?

Academic Standards

Students will learn how icicles are formed, and identify steps to building a castle from icicles.

K-2-ETS1: Engineering Design

K-ESS2-1: Patterns in weather and temperature

K-PS3: The effect of sunlight on the Earth’s surface in making the weather warmer or colder

icicle, slush, solid, liquid, gas

Use your Science Spin to find the best answer to each question.

1. Why are flamingos pink?

They eat pink food.

2. Why is the pygmy seahorse pink?

so it can hide

3. Which type of cardinal is red?

male

4. Draw an animal using camouflage to hide in a garden of flowers.

The Amazon River dolphin turns pink as it gets older.
A type of salamander called an axolotl has feathery pink gills on its head that look like a spiked pink hairdo.
The wings of the northern ghost bat look pink

Materials: Markers or crayons, kid scissors, copies of the skill sheet

Overview: Students explore camouflage as they color a paper frog and hide it in the classroom or other spot. Will others be able to find it?

Directions:

To start, remind kids that animals use camouflage to hide from predators. Their colors match what’s around them, so they are hard to see.
Have kids look around the classroom. Where could a red frog hide, or a pink frog? Ask kids to silently pick a spot and note its colors.
Pass out copies of the skill sheet. Then send kids to their seats to color and cut out their frogs.
Divide the class into two groups. Have one group put their heads down while the other group hides its frogs. Can the first group find them? Now switch.
Next, try hiding the frogs in noncamouflaged
spots. Are they easier to find?