Day 1: Introduction to Butterfly Life Cycles
Objective: Students will describe and identify the life cycles of a butterfly
Materials:
The teacher will gather the students on the floor and bring out a caterpillar in a mason jar. The teacher will ask if they have ever seen this kind of animal before and if they know what it looks like when it grows up. Have students talk to their neighbor about what they think the caterpillar grows up to be. Bring out Deborah Heiligman's book "From Caterpillar to Butterfly" and read to students. After the book have students recall and discuss the different stages they saw the caterpillar go through before it became of butterfly. Have students return to their seats. Hand out a Butterfly Book Foldable for students to complete. The students will need colored pencils, scissors and tape. Once the students have the handout instruct them to create a mini booklet with the stages of a butterfly. Remind them that they are responsible for putting the pages together in the correct order. Once the foldable books are complete tell the students that the caterpillar in the mason jar will stay there so that the class can watch it go through the life cycles. Conduct a wrap-up discussion of the stages of a butterfly.
Differentiation:
If some students finish their foldable quickly ask them to bring their science notebooks to the carpet and sketch/write observations of the caterpillar in the mason jar.
Assessment:
The assessment in this lesson will come from the wrap-up section when the teacher will use "cold call" (randomly calling on students) to test the students knowledge on each stage of a butterfly life cycle.
Resources:
Materials:
- Glass Mason jar with a caterpillar
- Deborah Heiligman's book "From Caterpillar to Butterfly"
- Butterfly Book foldable
- Scissors
- Staples
The teacher will gather the students on the floor and bring out a caterpillar in a mason jar. The teacher will ask if they have ever seen this kind of animal before and if they know what it looks like when it grows up. Have students talk to their neighbor about what they think the caterpillar grows up to be. Bring out Deborah Heiligman's book "From Caterpillar to Butterfly" and read to students. After the book have students recall and discuss the different stages they saw the caterpillar go through before it became of butterfly. Have students return to their seats. Hand out a Butterfly Book Foldable for students to complete. The students will need colored pencils, scissors and tape. Once the students have the handout instruct them to create a mini booklet with the stages of a butterfly. Remind them that they are responsible for putting the pages together in the correct order. Once the foldable books are complete tell the students that the caterpillar in the mason jar will stay there so that the class can watch it go through the life cycles. Conduct a wrap-up discussion of the stages of a butterfly.
Differentiation:
If some students finish their foldable quickly ask them to bring their science notebooks to the carpet and sketch/write observations of the caterpillar in the mason jar.
Assessment:
The assessment in this lesson will come from the wrap-up section when the teacher will use "cold call" (randomly calling on students) to test the students knowledge on each stage of a butterfly life cycle.
Resources:
- Attached below is a pdf of a worksheet for the Butterfly Book Foldable
- Attached below is a pdf of a worksheet for the Butterfly Book Foldable. The website it was taken from has faded off so I photocopied it from a teacher who works at Pinchbeck Elementary in Richmond, VA.
- From Caterpillar to Butterfly By Deborah Heiligman