Cool Chameleons

1. Read Martin Jenkin’s book, Chameleons Are Cool, to the class. Examine the illustrations and discuss the attributes of chameleons. Find out why they change color.
2. Distribute white paper, pencils and crayons. Each student will draw a chameleon on a branch and add stripes or spots to the chameleon.
3. Outline the chameleon with crayon using a dark color.
4. Color the sky, branch and leaves.
5. Hand out watercolor paints, brushes and containers of water.
6. Ask students to name the primary colors. What two colors make green? What two colors make purple? What two colors make orange?
7. Each student will choose two of the primary colors to paint with. They will also create a third color, a secondary color, by painting one primary color on top of a second primary color. Demonstrate how too much or too little of one color will effect the outcome of the secondary color. Using their three colors each student will paint his chameleon.

LA: Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

LA: Explain how specific images contribute to and clarify a text.

LA: Recount or describe key ideas or details from a text read aloud or information presented orally or through other media.

MATH: Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of liquid volumes and masses of objects.

SCI: Make observations of plants and animals to compare the diversity of life in different habitats.

VA: Know the differences between materials, techniques, and processes.

VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

Have students experiment mixing secondary colors with other mediums such as oil crayons or tempera paint.

Read about and draw other animals that live in the rain forest.

Collaborate to make a mural of the rainforest.

Compare a fictional book about chameleons to a nonfiction book.

Write a fictional story about why a chameleon changes color.

Experiment with primary colors. Mix more, less and equal amounts of colors to make secondary colors.