Hide the Moth

Little levels (ages 4 to 6)

1. Hide on the tree Pick the color that hides a moth on bark.
2. Hide in the snow Pick the color that hides a moth in snow.
3. Hide in the leaves Pick the color that hides a moth in leaves.
4. Which one hides? Three moths: tap the one the bird will miss.
5. Be the bird Find five moths hiding in the leaves.

Big levels (ages 7 to 9)

1. Tune the color Turn two knobs until the moth disappears, then call the bird.
2. Be the bird Find eight moths on pebbles; the spotted gray ones are hardest.
3. Pattern matters Same color, different patterns: stripes for grass, spots for pebbles.
4. Peppered moths Predict and watch natural selection, year by year, as the trees turn sooty.
5. Changing seasons Pick the hare's coat for summer, autumn and winter before the fox comes.
6. Stand out! Poison frogs and flowers want to be seen. Decide who hides and who stands out.

The big ideas

• Camouflage is matching the background. An animal whose color, lightness and pattern match its surroundings is hard to see, so predators pass it by.

• The predator's eyes decide what counts as hidden. Being the bird in the game shows that matching moths really are found last. Camouflage only has to fool the animals that hunt you.

• Pattern matters as much as color. Stripes break up an outline in grass; spots do the same among pebbles. A plain moth of the right color can still be spotted by its shape.

• Natural selection changes a population. In the peppered-moth story, soot from 19th-century factories darkened tree bark in England. Birds ate the light moths that now stood out, dark moths survived and bred, and within decades most moths were dark. When the air got cleaner, the light form returned.

• Some animals change with the seasons. Arctic hares, stoats and ptarmigans grow a white coat for winter and a brown one for summer.

• Standing out can be a strategy too. Poison dart frogs and wasps wear warning colors that predators learn to avoid, and flowers are bright so pollinators can find them.

Try it at home

1. Backyard hide-and-seek Cut paper moths in several colors and stick them around the garden or a room. Time how long it takes someone to find each one. Which colors were found first?
2. Pattern test Make two moths the same color, one plain and one striped, and put both on a striped towel. Ask someone which they notice first.
3. Candy natural selection Scatter mixed candies on a patterned cloth and give a 'predator' ten seconds to grab as many as they can. Count which colors survived.
4. Spot the hiders On a walk, look for insects on bark, leaves or stones. Notice how many you only see when they move.

Ask after playing

• Why could the bird not find the brown moth on the tree?
• What happened to the moths when the trees turned dark?
• Why would a frog want to be bright instead of hidden?