Gone Fishin'

In S'math we are doing an activity from AIMS Education Foundation (Activities Integrating Math & Science) that helps show the effects of camouflage. Half the students have done the activity and the other half will do it next week.

Students "fish" for paper fish that are spread out on a construction paper ocean. There are equal numbers of four colors of fish: red, white, blue (the same color as the "ocean"), and black. Teams of students take turns fishing and record their results. Then the whole group meets together to share the class results. We put them on a big chart on the chalkboard so that we can easily compare the number of fish caught. Inevitably either the red or white fish are caught the most. Usually the blue is caught the least, though a few times black has come in last in number caught. I don't tell the students ahead of time that this is a camouflage activity. It prompts some "aha" moments as the students consider why we get the results we do.

I have learned to trust the activity and not get worried if one team's results are skewed because black or blue is a favorite color of some of the fishers. Though I tell the kids not to try to pick up certain colors, a few will do that. Fortunately the rest of the group balances them out. (Or maybe it's the kids who like white and red best!)