travel_exploreDiscovery · Camouflage

🦎 Camouflage

How does a chameleon change colour? Simple, true camouflage facts for young children, each with a fun fact, a tiny activity and a question to talk about together.

Tap a question to reveal the answer, share the fun fact, try the tiny activity, then talk about it together.

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How does a chameleon change colour? Revealexpand_more

A chameleon's skin has tiny layers that can spread apart or bunch together, and that changes which colours we see. It shifts colour to show its mood, to warm up in the sun or to send a message, even more than to hide.

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Talk about itIf your skin changed colour with your mood, what colour would you be right now?

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Did you know?A chameleon can also move each eye on its own, looking two different ways at the same time.

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Try itHold a coloured paper next to your arm and try to "match" it. A chameleon does that with its whole body.

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🦎🦓Why do zebras have stripes?🐙Why is the octopus so clever?🦊How do some animals hide in the snow?

🤖Still curious?What other animals can change colour?arrow_forward

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Why do zebras have stripes? Revealexpand_more

When zebras stand close together, their black and white stripes blur into a busy pattern, so a lion finds it hard to pick out just one zebra to chase. The stripes may also confuse biting flies and help zebras tell each other apart.

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Talk about itHow do you pick out your family in a busy, crowded place?

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Did you know?Every zebra's stripes are different, like a fingerprint drawn in lines.

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Try itDraw stripes on paper, then look at a whole group of them up close. Notice how your eyes struggle to follow just one.

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🦎🦎How does a chameleon change colour?🦊How do some animals hide in the snow?🌿How does a stick insect disappear?

🤖Still curious?Are zebras black with white stripes or white with black stripes?arrow_forward

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How do some animals hide in the snow? Revealexpand_more

Animals like the arctic fox and the snowshoe hare grow white fur in winter so they blend into the snow, then swap back to brown in summer to match the ground. Their coat changes with the seasons to keep them hidden all year round.

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Talk about itIf you could change your look for winter, what would you turn into?

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Did you know?The arctic fox's white winter coat is so warm it can curl up and nap right in the snow.

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Try itPut a white sock on white paper, then on a dark table. See how much easier it is to spot on the dark one.

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🦎🦓Why do zebras have stripes?🦎How does a chameleon change colour?🐦Why do birds fly away for winter?

🤖Still curious?Why do some animals stay the same colour all year?arrow_forward

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How does a stick insect disappear? Revealexpand_more

A stick insect looks so much like a real twig that hungry birds fly straight past it. It stays very still and even sways a little, as if a breeze were moving a branch, so nothing notices it is alive.

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Talk about itWhere in your home would be the best place to hide by keeping still?

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Did you know?Some stick insects also copy a dead leaf, brown spots and all.

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Try itStand as still as a statue and see how long you can go without moving. Staying still is a stick insect's best trick.

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🦎🦓Why do zebras have stripes?🐛How does a caterpillar become a butterfly?🦎How does a chameleon change colour?

🤖Still curious?What is the difference between hiding and camouflage?arrow_forward

🦎 Camouflage

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