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Miles K12 students learn about Predator/Prey interactions
If there were no grocery stores or restaurants, what would you eat? Think about how you would get your food. You would have to hunt or gather you food. That food is considered "prey", you then are the "predator". Now think about, as a prey, what can be done to avoid being eaten, these are called defenses.
- size: such as an elephant
- speed: such as a deer
- protection from a shell: such as a turtle or a snail
- spines provide protection: such as a cactus or a porcupine
- odor: such as a skunk
- camouflage: such as a walking stick or a chameleon
- toxin: such as such as a gila monster, certain mushrooms, poison ivy and oak.
This activity will investigate the usefulness of toxin
for a prey.
Room 1 students are going to act like predators on a variety of jellybean
prey. Some of these prey (jellybeans) do not taste good. This is a defense
that the prey has to survive Room 1 attack. The rules of the attack:
- The predator can only capture one jellybean in an eating cycle.
- An eating cycle is 15 seconds and will be timed with a timer.
- If the predator has captured a prey that does not taste good, spit it out in the cup, but the predator MUST wait until the next eating cycle to capture another jellybean.
- There will be 30 eating cycles, during that time you will capture 30 jellybeans, some of which you will eat. Remember, as a predator you need to eat to survive, take care to capture things you can eat.
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Room 1 students at Miles listen to their task of being predators of the many jellybeans
Predators in action:
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On the mark, get set and.....
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GO!!!
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"I'm not too sure of this one."
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"I think I might spit this one out."
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"Mmm, mm, this one is good."
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"Oooh, I shouldn't have eaten that one."
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"Yucky, yucky, yucky."
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"Check out my toxins."
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"Really, this is a great activity"
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Vocabulary for Predator/Prey Activity:
Predator - An animal that hunts and kills another animal or plant for
food
Prey - An animal or plant that is killed an eaten by an animal.
Defenses - Protection, to resist attach (by predator)
Toxin - A poison produced by an animal or plant
Mimicry - to look like another animal or plant and benefiting by seeming
unable to eat or harmful.
Camouflage - to disguise or hide yourself, blend in with surroundings.
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BIOTECH Project Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology The University of Arizona August 15, 2000 Nadja Anderson, Ph.D. |