Butterfly Life Cycle

Life Cycle of a Butterfly 

Waiman Carden
Little Lake School District
Santa Fe Springs, California 

URL: https://www.can-do.com/uci-webquests/1999-webquests

Purpose:

Students will investigate the life cycle of a butterfly using information provided from the internet as well teacher made activities.

Resources Needed:  

Students will need access to a computer connected to the internet. 

Your task is the complete at least four of the activities below.

Read the poem titled Caterpillar by Lillian Vabada

Caterpillar 

 Fuzzy, wuzzy, creepy crawly 

Caterpillar funny

You will be a butterfly 

When the days are sunny.


 Wiggling, flinging, dancing, springing

 Butterfly so yellow,

You were once a caterpillar,

Wriggly, wiggly, fellow.

                                                 by Lillian Vabada 

A.  Read the poem and write down all rhyming words from the poem below.

       1. 

       2. 

       3.

       4.

       5.

       6.

B.  Create an acrostic poem using the beginning letters of the words butterfly.

       B

       U

       T

       T

       E

       R

       F

       L

       Y

C.  Life Cycle of a Butterfly Word Search.
      Click here to make your own word search using the vocabulary words below.

Print it out and trade with a friend.

BUTTERFLY

CATERPILLAR

CHRYSALIS

CYCLE

LARVA

LIFE

METAMORPHOSIS

PUPA

D.  Using the letters only once in the word METAMORPHOSIS, 

   how many words can you make? 

List your words on the table below. 

E.  Vocabulary

       l.  caterpillar: the larval stage of a butterfly or moth

       2.  chrysalis: the hard shell covering the pupa; shaped like an upside down teardrop

       3.  larva: the second stage of metamorphosis, during which an insect is wormlike and has new wings

       4.  pupa: the third stage of metamorphosis; encased by a chrysalis

       5.  metamorphosis: a series of developmental stages often marked by body changes

Vocabulary information taken from http://www.scholastic.com/inschool/instructor/curriculum/science/science2.htm


Using the definitions above, draw a picture to match the description. 

Take a look at this site to help you with your drawings. Click here.

Click here to learn about the life cycle of other plants and animals
Click here to check out other sites on the circle of life  

Did You Know?

l.  Caterpillars change into butterflies. 

2. The change is called metamorphosis.

3. Caterpillars grow out of their skin, molting. 

4. Caterpillars will molt four or five times. 

5. The last time a caterpillar molts, it grows a hard shell - pupa. 

6. Caterpillars stay inside the pupa for one week. 

7. A butterfly can fly within two hours.

8. All butterflies have three pairs of legs. 

Facts from a lesson created by Cara Wyko:

http://www.coreknowledge.org/CKproto2/resrcs/lessons/298LifeCycles.htm

F. Which ones of these images is a close up of a butterfly? 

Make your prediction on a sticky note.
 Put your sticky note on the graph.

A

B

C

Click here to go to the site to check your answer

G. Using the information provided from our class, make a bar graph of our predictions using graph paper. Please be sure to label your axes and color you graph.

H. Find the area of your caterpillar using the square inch paper.  Enter the data on the grid below.


How Much Has Your Caterpillar Grown?

Measurements Converter Java Calculator 

I.  Given the growth rate of your caterpillar, how many cm2 will it be in day seven? 

My prediction is___________inches.  What is the actual length________?  Find the difference.

A Few Internet Resources:

Email: waiman@home.com

Created August 10, 1999
Last Revised August 9, 2000

Teacher Notes

Science Content Standards:

 S.C.O.R.E. Lessons Standards Search by Grade and Subject
S.C.O.R.E.  Standards and Framework
California Content Standards Grades K-12
California Content Standards Grades K-12 - Science -PDF Format

Life Science Section 2a, 2b, 2c
Investigation and Experimentation 4a, 4b, 4c, 4b, 4e 

Background:

To get the students motivated, I will read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and If I Were a Butterfly as an introduction to the unit.  With the whole class, do a graphic organizer on butterflies to guide our learning. I will need to do several directed lessons with them on how to use the internet before getting started. This lesson is designed to be used during guided reading and center time with partners.

Skills:


Assessments:


Enrichment Activities:



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