ACTIVITY 17

See You/See Me

Teaching Objective:

1. Students will learn to communicate with light signals in order to understand how insects communicate.

Materials Needed:

• Flashlights, one for every two students in the classroom
• 3 x 5 cards
• Black cloth or posterboard

Procedure:

Divide the students into pairs and give each pair a flashlight. Have the students devise a code for communicating with each other using flashes of light. Suggest that they use some long flashes and some short ones and that they limit the total number of flashes to less than seven. Have each group write their names and their code on a 3 x 5 card which they will give to the teacher. No codes should be exactly the same; in case of duplication, the second group to turn their card in will have to alter their code.

Turn the lights out in the room, or go to a place in the school where the light is dim. Devise some system whereby students with flashlights will be hidden from the view of their "mate" but their lights will be visible. Suspending a sheer black cloth in a doorway would be one way to accomplish this. Having the students flash the light against a black posterboard but from around a corner would be another. Have three students at a time go outside the room or behind the curtain so that their partners will not know which student is flashing his/her light at a given time. While one student is observing the flashes, the other two participants should turn their backs so that they will not be influenced by another student's decision.

Have the students with the flashlights record on a sheet the order in which they flashed their signals. Have their partners record which of the three signals belonged to their "mates." When each group of three has completed the experiment, record the number of correct responses.