Catch Me If You Can

What Are Kids Learning?

• Predators are animals that hunt and eat other animals.
• Prey are animals that predators hunt and eat.
• Prey have strategies to make it hard for predators to catch them. Blending into the background and living in places that are hard for predators to reach are two such strategies.
• Predators also have strategies that help them catch prey, such as blending into the background and hunting as a group.

How Do You Get Ready?

• Read the activity and gather the materials.
• Scout out places where this activity will work well, such as a neighborhood park or schoolyard.
• Notice what kinds of living things (plants and animals) you find and where you find them.
• Troubleshoot any safety concerns (traffic, poison ivy, sharp objects, etc.).

Start a conversation about hiding places.

Then talk about how animals use hiding places. As you talk about animals and hiding places, use the terms predator and prey.

Part A Tag, You're Prey!

Tell kids that, next, they will take on the roles of predators and prey in a variety of places. Establish ground rules for tag games before you go outdoors. Tell kids to be aware of their surroundings, to look out for one another, and to tag only with the fingers of one hand - no pushing is allowed.

Then:

1. Head outdoors to an open space, such as a basketball court or open sports field.
2. Show kids the boundaries they should observe and mark them with cones.
3. Have kids play tag as pairs, with partners switching roles a few times, giving each kid experience as both predator and prey.
4. Give kids two minutes to play tag in pairs, then blow the whistle or otherwise indicate that time is up.

Next, play tag as a whole group, assigning one kid to be the predator (the kid who is "it"). Explain that in this game, once you are tagged, you need to sit out. After two minutes, have the group play one more round, only this time, assign three kids to be "it." That way, the "predators" can imitate cooperative hunting similar to wolves, lions, or orcas (i.e., killer whales), where several predators work together to catch one animal.

Part B Hide or Be Eaten!

Take the group to a place full of obstacles, such as a playground full of equipment. As a ground rule, tell them is to be no climbing on structures. Remind kids to be aware of their surroundings and of each other.

1. Have kids play the same tag games as you played above. Talk about how being both predator and prey differed in this setting.
2. If time permits, play another series of games, this time modeling how a predator's size affects how it uses the habitat.

3. Time how quickly kids can walk from one side of the playground to the other-navigating through and under slides, climbing structures, or swing sets. Do this three different times:

   • with arms by their sides;
   • holding arms out (modeling how a larger animal might have a more difficult time navigating through obstacles);
   • linking arms with a partner and stretching their free arms out as far out as they will go.

4. Compare the times of all three races, then discuss how the races compared.

After the games, gather the group together. Talk about how the games reflect how animals use their habitats.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Search the Internet for animals that use camouflage, coloring that helps them blend in with their surroundings. Then head outdoors with craft materials and have kids make camouflaged "animals." The animals could be pieces of paper cut out in the shape of an animal, such as a fish or a bird, and colored in such a way that it matches its surroundings. Add texture to the "animals" by gluing on pom-poms, string, or felt. When done, take turns finding one another's animals. You can also do this activity indoors by having your child color in the animals so that they blend with some part of your classroom - a poster on the wall, a floor tile, a desk. Make a game of it by sending half of the group out of the room. While they are gone, have kids tape their animals to the places they are meant to blend in with. Then bring the other half of the group back in and see whose animal is the hardest to find. When all the animals have been found, switch roles.

• Whistle or other noisemaker
• Flipchart and markers
• Stopwatch or timer
• 4 orange cones or other bright objects for marking boundaries on a field

Next Generation Science Standards

Disciplinary Core Ideas

• LS1.A: Structure and Function
• LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
• LS2.B: Cycles of Matter and Energy Transfer in Ecosystems
• LS4.D: Biodiversity and Humans

Science and Engineering Practices

• Asking Questions and Defining Problems
• Developing and Using Models
• Analyzing and Interpreting Data
• Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
• Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Crosscutting Concepts

• Patterns
• Cause and Effect: Mechanism and Prediction
• Systems and System Models
• Energy and Matter: Flows, Cycles, and Conservation
• Structure and Function