Butterflies

From Caterpillar to Butterfly!

We started our caterpillar unit this week!  I ordered caterpillars from www.insectlore.com.  They are awesome!  The caterpillars come in the mail in a little jar that has food in it for them.  Then, you get to watch them form into a J while they make their cocoon.  Ours are currently in their cocoons and we are waiting for them to hatch into butterflies.  I am so fascinated by this!  I think it is so neat! 

So, we wrote about the caterpillars in our science journals.  We wrote down observations and predicted when we thought they might become butterflies.  The students cannot wait for them to hatch and they look at the caterpillars any free chance they can get!  

We read the Very Hungry Caterpillar (one of my favorites!) and made a caterpillar to retell the story.  The students did a great job of retelling and using the transition words, first, next, then, and last.  

We also made the life cycle of a butterfly by using pasta noodles.  This is such a great visual for the students, as well as the food life cycle.  The food one is my favorite because then we get to eat it! I am always crazy about anything that has to do with food!  My kids enjoy it too!

We ended our butterfly unit by making our 3-D caterpillar book.  The book is in a shape of a leaf/cocoon.  So the front we use tissue paper to make it look like a leaf, and we add our caterpillar on top.  Then, when you open the book the left side has the cocoon and the ride side has pages that describe the life cycle.  Then, when you close the book there is a butterfly on the back!  It is a great way to describe the life cycle of a butterfly.  I feel confident that my students understand this process and learned new vocabulary words this week!