CAMOUFLAGE & MIMICRY IN THE CLASSROOM

Georgia Standards

South Carolina Standards

Key Vocabulary

Materials

• Optional: Drum or percussion instrument
• Optional: Sound clips of mimicry
• Images of camouflage and mimicry in the natural world (from textbook, class resources, or the internet)
• Multi-colored pieces of construction paper
• Scissors
• Glue
• STEAM journals/blank paper
• Writing utensils

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

Animal and Habitat Statues:

• Use a drum, percussion instrument, or clapping to establish that students will form statues in response to a single beat and then relax out of the statues in response to a double beat.
• Remind students that statues do not move, but that they must allow themselves to breathe and blink.
• Provide a series of prompts of animals specific to Georgia habitats. The teacher can project images on the board or simply say the name of the animal.
  • As the teacher says the animal, have students form a statue of that animal with their bodies.
  • Use observational language to comment on specific physical choices that students make to create their statues (e.g., “I see that Caitlyn has her chest low like a stalking leopard,” or “Donté’s arms are straight back like a grasshopper’s wings.”

Work Session

Camouflage:

• Define and discuss camouflage. Show examples of camouflage from the natural world.
• Introduce the concept of camouflage in the classroom.
  • Model by looking for colors and patterns that mirror your own clothes. Find a place in the classroom where you can approximate blending in. Prompt students to say, “Where’s Ms. _______?  We can’t see her!”
• Discuss how in theatre, television, and film, costume and set designers make intentional choices about costumes and sets used in the production.
• Explain that students are going to be like costume designers, making choices based on colors, shapes, and patterns in the given costumes and settings in the classroom.
• Invite one or two volunteers to come to the front of the room. Have the class identify colors, shapes, and patterns both on the volunteers and around the classroom, and brainstorm ideas for the volunteers to camouflage themselves in the classroom.
• Model being a predator, looking for prey (the volunteers), and passing them by because they blend into their surroundings.
  • Ask students to think of a predator. Ask students to stand at their desks and use their bodies to show how their chosen predator acts when they are hunting prey.
    • Ask students to change their facial expressions and body movements to act like the predator. Have students give their predator a sound.
    • Have students change their body level (high, middle, or low) depending on what type of predator they are. For example, a snake would move at a low level while a bear would move at a high level.
  • Have students partner up and work together to identify camouflage opportunities for each partner; when each is camouflaged, have the other act like a deceived predator.
  • Have volunteers share examples of the camouflage opportunities they found around the classroom by acting like the deceived predator and camouflaged prey.

Mimicry:

• Define mimicry; share examples (visual and perhaps aural) from the natural world.
• Remind students about the roles of designers; explain that they will use simple materials to create external adaptations to mimic other organisms (classmates).
• Model with construction paper, scissors, and glue or tape. Select a student to mimic, and use the supplies to quickly create a ‘costume’ piece that mimics what that student is wearing.
• Have the student who is being mimicked come up to the front of the class, strike a pose or make a movement, and make a sound as their character. Stand by the student with the costume piece, and mimic the sound. Have the class say, “Look, it’s two ______s!” (i.e., if standing next to and mimicking Tyler, the class says “Look, it’s two Tylers!”).
  • Discuss mimicry as a form of flattery or disguise, and impress upon the students that the activity should not be used in order to mock, tease, taunt, make fun of, or bully others.
• Have students work with their partners to use materials to create a costume piece to mimic each other’s visual appearance – primarily clothing.
• Once students have created their pieces, tell students that now the student being mimicked should strike a pose or create a movement and make a sound for the other student to mimic.
• Invite volunteers to come to the front of the room to perform their mimicry. Have the class say, “Listen! Look! It’s two ______’s!”
• Remind students that they worked together to understand mimicry, and have students thank each other for the honor of both mimicking and being mimicked.

Closing Reflection

• Facilitate a discussion about the following: How did we use elements of costume and set design – color, shape, and pattern – to bring camouflage and mimicry to life in our classroom “habitat”? How did we use characterization (facial expressions, movements, sounds, etc.)?
• Students will draw a picture of themselves demonstrating camouflage or mimicry in the classroom.
  • Students should identify the image as an example of either camouflage or mimicry.
  • Students should identify the areas and objects in the classroom that were used for camouflage or the classmate on whom the mimicry was based.

Assessments

Formative

• Observe student comprehension of camouflage and mimicry as they use costume clothing, shape, and pattern in the lesson.
• Observe how students use costume design, as well as their voices and bodies, to successfully create the effects of camouflage.

Summative

• Evaluate the student drawings for evidence of comprehension of camouflage and effective use of design concepts in the lesson activity.
• Evaluate student performances of camouflage to determine if they were able to use their bodies and voices to act like a predator who could not find a camouflaged prey.
• Evaluate student performances of mimicry to determine if they could use costume design and voice to demonstrate mimicry.

Differentiation

Credits

U.S. Department of Education- STEM + the Art of Integrated Learning

Ideas contributed by: SAIL Grant Teacher Leaders, Barry Stewart Mann

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  June 2025 @ ArtsNOW