From Egg to Butterfly - How Do They Do it?

A. STUDENT INTRODUCTION

Today you are going to learn all about butterflies! How did these beautiful creatures become butterflies? Have you ever read the story, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle? You can read that book now, or after you complete this Web Trek. It all starts out with a tiny egg, a leaf, and then indeed, a very hungry caterpillar! Read on, visit the sites as you go, answer the questions, and learn all about butterflies!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

B. TEACHER INTRODUCTION

Early elementary students will follow along with this Web Trek to learn about the stages of a butterfly's life, and complete various activities on the life cycle. You can have them work in pairs or in groups, and you can read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar either before or after completing the Web Trek, as an introduction or as a reinforcement. Butterfly crafts are part of the experience, including using Eric Carle's art techniques with tissue paper collage, a butterfly mobile, watercolor butterflies, and pop-up butterflies. Printable student handouts include a butterfly life cycle wordsearch and butterfly life stages sequence cards. Enjoy! (As always, the sites below have been carefully selected; however, please ensure you check all current links before allowing student access.)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

C. PROCESS

1. How does a butterfly begin its life?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________


2. What does the egg hatch into?
{Link 2}

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________



3. What is the caterpillar also called?
_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

4. What do caterpillars eat?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

5. When it has eaten a lot of leaves and it is big enough, what does a caterpillar turn into?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

6. What happens after the chrysalis stage? (Hint: you can see what happens here!)

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

7. Watch a butterfly being born. What is your favorite stage of the butterfly's life cycle?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

8. You've read all about it; now, without looking, name the four stages of the butterfly life cycle:

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

9. Put these Butterfly Life Cycle Sequence Cards in the correct order. You can paste them onto paper and make a mini book with them.

10. Here is a Butterfly Life Cycle Wordsearch for you. See if you can find all of the words that you have learned in this Web Trek.

11. Print out this Butterfly Anatomy page to learn the different parts of the adult butterfly. Draw patterns on your butterfly, and color it with beautiful, bright colors! Once you have cut it out and colored both sides of it, fold it in half along its thorax and abdomen, and attach it with a glue stick to a clothespin. Once it's dry, pin the clothespin wherever you want to see your gorgeous butterflies fly!

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

D. FUN AND GAMES!

BUTTERFLY LIFE CYCLE MOBILES:
From egg to butterfly, students will represent the various stages of the butterfly life cycle in this artistic mobile, using paper plates, string, markers, and construction paper.

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR TISSUE COLLAGE:
This book is a favorite for everyone - young and old alike - and your students might wish to carefully examine illustrator Eric Carle's art techniques before attempting a caterpillar collage of their own, following the directions here.

MONARCH BUTTERFLY JIGSAW PUZZLE:
Can you rearrange these pieces to see the beautiful Monarch Butterfly emerge? There is a timer on the left; see if you can do it faster a second time!

MAKE A POP-UP BUTTERFLY:
You'll need popsicle sticks, crayons or markers, some paper and glue, and empty paper towel rolls for this butterfly craft, where your butterfly is hidden in its chrysalis, and then pops up and appears to fly!

WATERCOLOR BUTTERFLIES:
{Link 2}
Use the 2nd link above for a butterfly template for this art project, unless your students wish to draw their own designs. Butterfly anatomy is part of the lesson plan however, so students should be able to integrate the butterfly parts correctly into their designs. Splattering paint and sprinkling salt provides the magic touches for this art project; find further instructions here.

_______________________________________________________________________

RETURN TO EVERYDAY TEACHING CALENDAR & RESOURCES:
http://www.everydayteaching.com/

©2007 RealWorks Communications. All rights reserved.

Reproducible for personal & educational use only. All others require permission: everydayteaching