How animals hide: camouflage and mimicry

Tests: 6 of 11 right · Exam: 1 of 4 right · Kind: plain · Understood: 11 of 15 · Run: 2026-10-18, commit f3c23ea72

Lesson 51 of the biology course of Mova's primary school, as Mova's small model took its tests: it had read this lesson and the ones before it and learned from their exercises. Each test shows the options in the order the student saw them, its choice, the right answer, the score of every option and why it chose. The lesson itself, sentence by sentence with trees and pragmatics: the lesson in the corpora.

Every question of this lesson and each of its options parsed by Mova, with trees and pragmatics: the lesson's questions in the corpora.

Test 1 · wrong ✗

my cartoon chameleon turned tartan on a tartan rug and vanished. real?

1. No, chameleons never change colour at all — ← Mova's choice · score 9
2. Yes, but only red and green tartan, not the blue sort — no support
3. Yes, they copy any pattern they sit on — score 4
4. No, they can't copy patterns; colour changes mostly for mood and warmth — ✓ the right answer · score 6

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 9, against 6 for the next best. Its support: lesson 30, line 5: «And cartoon chameleons turn into tartan or vanish against any background; real chameleons change colour mostly to show their mood and control their temperature…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «real chameleons» (+5); the same action «change» (+4); the same thing acted on «colour» (+2). Against it: one says «not», the other does not (counts against) (-2). The right option, 4, scored 6. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 2 · wrong ✗

Mate says that stripy thing on the flower is a wasp, run! It hovers dead still and has one pair of wings. What is it?

1. A bumblebee that has lost all of its fur — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. A wasp with two of its wings tucked away — no support
3. A baby wasp that has not grown its sting — no support
4. A harmless hoverfly copying a wasp — ✓ the right answer · no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 3 · right ✓

If polar bear fur is not really white, why does it look white to us?

1. The ice reflects off it just like a mirror — no support
2. The bear rolls in fresh snow every morning — no support
3. The black skin shines through it as white — no support
4. The clear hollow hairs scatter the light — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 4 with score 10, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 51, line 9: «A polar bear's hairs are see-through and hollow and its skin is black; the clear hairs scatter light, so the bear looks white against the ice; zoo polar bears…», reached through the cause of the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «scatter» (+5); the same thing acted on «light» (+4); the same doer «clear hairs» (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 4 · wrong ✗

What would happen to a white arctic fox if the snow melted early in spring?

1. It would dig into the ice to hide — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. It would stand out on brown ground until its summer coat grew — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. It would be safer than ever — no support
4. It would turn brown overnight, as soon as it saw the ground — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 5 · right ✓

A zoo once found its polar bears had turned a bit green. What had happened?

1. The keepers had painted them green for a summer show — no support
2. They had eaten too much spinach — score 3
3. Their skin had turned green with cold — score 5
4. Tiny algae had grown inside their hollow hairs — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 12, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 51, line 9: «A polar bear's hairs are see-through and hollow and its skin is black; the clear hairs scatter light, so the bear looks white against the ice; zoo polar bears…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «tiny algae» (+5); the same action «grow» (+4); the same place «hollow hairs» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 6 · right ✓

How could scientists test whether stripes really keep flies away?

1. Count the stripes on every zebra — no support
2. Paint all the zebras in one herd plain brown and see if they get angry — no support
3. Ask lions whether stripes confuse them — score 8
4. Put striped coats and plain coats on horses and count fly landings — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 12

Why: It took the question to ask what something is like. It chose option 4 with score 12, against 8 for the next best. Its support: lesson 51, line 14: «Every zebra has its own stripe pattern; scientists think the main job of stripes is to keep biting flies away, which they tested by putting striped and plain c…», reached through a sentence linked to the one the question matched. What matched: the same action «put» (+5); the same circumstance (+4); the same thing acted on «striped coats» (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 7 · right ✓

What would happen to the peppered moths if a town became very smoky again?

1. Nothing, moths do not care at all what colour the tree trunks are — score 4
2. All moths would leave the town forever — score 3
3. Dark moths would hide better and become more common again — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 10
4. Pale moths would grow soot on their wings — score 2

Why: It took the question to ask what happens next. It chose option 3 with score 10, against 4 for the next best. Its support: lesson 51, line 15: «In smoky 1800s England, soot blackened tree trunks, so dark peppered moths hid better, birds ate the pale ones they could see, and dark moths became common; wh…», reached through what followed the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same action «hide» (+4); the same doer «dark peppered moths» (+4); the same property (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 8 · wrong ✗

ugh crows screaming their heads off at that tree, what's their problem

1. They're warning each other about the rain coming in — no support
2. They've probably found a sleeping owl and are mobbing it — ✓ the right answer · no support
3. They're building a nest together — ← Mova's choice · score 2
4. They're fighting over a worm — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 3 with score 2, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 16, line 8: «Orangutans build a new nest high in the trees every night by bending and weaving branches, sometimes with a pillow or a roof of leaves.», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «build» (+2); the same thing acted on «new nest» (+1). Against it: a different doer (counts against) (-1). The right option, 2, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 9 · right ✓

Which is true about the octopus?

1. It hides by growing a shell like a snail — no support
2. It can only change colour when it sees something red — score 5
3. It changes colour only when it sleeps — score 5
4. It matches colours well, though it may not see colour like we do — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 9

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 4 with score 9, against 5 for the next best. Its support: lesson 51, line 11: «An octopus has thousands of colour cells and can raise bumps on its skin to copy rocks and weed in under a second, even though scientists think it cannot see c…», reached through the remembered sentence the question matched. What matched: the same thing acted on «colour» (+5); the same action «see» (+2); the same doer «octopus» (+2). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 10 · wrong ✗

Why might the swallowtail caterpillar change its disguise when it grows bigger?

1. A big bird dropping would look odd, so a fake snake face works better — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. It must match the flower it will eat next — ← Mova's choice · score 4
3. It gets bored of the old colour — no support
4. Big caterpillars no longer have enemies, so they don't need to hide — no support

Why: It took the question to ask why something happens (its cause). It chose option 2 with score 4, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 48, line 9: «A butterfly has four stages, egg, caterpillar, chrysalis and adult; peacock and red admiral butterflies lay eggs on nettles, the food their caterpillars eat, a…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same action «eat» (+2); the same doer «caterpillars» (+2). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Test 11 · right ✓

If you designed a hiding insect for a desert, what would it look like?

1. Bright red all over, to warn every animal in the desert away — no support
2. Sandy coloured, flat and still like a pebble or dry twig — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 13
3. Black with white spots — score 10
4. Bright green with shiny wings — score 6

Why: It took the question to ask a circumstance (with what, when, how). It chose option 2 with score 13, against 10 for the next best. Its support: lesson 51, line 2: «Camouflage means looking like the things around you: a stick insect looks like a twig, a polar bear looks like snow, a flounder looks like the sandy seabed, a…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: it fills the role the question asks for (+4); the same action «look» (+3); the same doer «stick insect» (+3); the same circumstance (+3). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 1 · formal language · wrong ✗

Identify the principal purpose for which the chameleon is understood to alter its colouration.

1. Social signalling and the regulation of body temperature — ✓ the right answer · no support
2. The exact reproduction of patterns upon which it rests, for concealment — ← Mova's choice · score 6
3. The attraction of insects towards its tongue — no support
4. The expulsion of surplus water from the skin — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 2 with score 6, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 51, line 5: «Cartoons show a chameleon turning tartan on a tartan blanket and vanishing; the real chameleon cannot copy patterns at all and changes colour mostly to show it…», reached through the same lesson line as the sentence the question matched. What matched: the same doer «real chameleon» (+5); the same thing acted on «patterns» (+2). Against it: a different action (counts against) (-1). The right option, 1, found no support in what it remembers. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 2 · formal language · wrong ✗

Which of the following statements most accurately characterises the pelage of the polar bear?

1. The hairs are white and the underlying skin is white — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. The hairs are solid and the skin is pink — no support
3. The hairs are clear and hollow, and the skin beneath is black — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. The hairs are black and appear white by reflection of snow — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 3 · formal language · right ✓

Select the response consistent with the established facts concerning the hoverfly.

1. It is a harmless fly whose resemblance to a wasp deters birds — ← Mova's choice · ✓ the right answer · score 3
2. It possesses a sting considerably more potent than that of the wasp — no support
3. It bears two complete pairs of wings in the manner of the true wasp — no support
4. It is avoided by birds on account of its exceedingly disagreeable odour — no support

Why: It took the question to ask which statement is true. It chose option 1 with score 3, the only option with support. Its support: lesson 51, line 12: «A hoverfly is a harmless fly with wasp-like yellow and black stripes; birds that have learned stripes mean a sting leave it alone, and this trick is called mim…», reached through the option's own match among the sentences about the question's things. What matched: the same doer «hoverfly» (+1); the same thing acted on «harmless fly» (+1); the same light verb (be, have, do, get, go) (+1). · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

Exam question 4 · formal language · wrong ✗

It is given that the pale form of the peppered moth declined in industrial towns. Ascertain the reason.

1. Pale moths migrated to rural districts — ← Mova's choice · no support
2. Dark moths consumed the pale moths — no support
3. Soot-darkened bark rendered pale moths conspicuous to birds — ✓ the right answer · no support
4. Industrial smoke dyed the wings of the pale moths a darker shade — no support

Why: No option found support in what it remembers, so it guessed: it took the first option shown. · the question and its options parsed, with trees and pragmatics

This page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/51-how-animals-hide/