Grammar check: The zebra’s black-and-white stripes confuse predators and repel insects — Age 5

Yes — the sentence is grammatically correct.

Step-by-step for a 5-year-old:

1. "The zebra's black-and-white stripes" means the zebra has stripes that are both black and white. The hyphens in "black-and-white" are correct because those words together describe the stripes.
2. "Confuse predators" means the stripes make animals that want to eat the zebra not know where the zebra is going.
3. "And repel insects" means the stripes help keep bugs away.

Some simpler ways to say the same thing:

• "A zebra's black and white stripes confuse animals that want to eat it and keep bugs away."
• "Zebras have black and white stripes that scare away predators and stop insects from biting."

If you are talking about all zebras, you can also say "Zebras' black-and-white stripes..." or "Zebras have..." but the original sentence is fine as it is.