BUTTERFLY LAB WONDER & LEARNING. Teacher s Guide PreK, K & 1st Grade Science Unit EarthsBirthday.org

Transcription

1 WONDER & LEARNING Teacher s Guide PreK, K & 1st Grade Science Unit EarthsBirthday.org BUTTERFLY LAB

2 BUTTERFLY LAB Overview INTRO In spring, classrooms thoroughout New Mexico bring their learning to life with Painted Lady caterpillars! Having live caterpillars is a wonderful opportunity to encourage the children to observe closely and ask lots and lots of questions. Over approximately 21 days the 5-6 live caterpillars will eat prepared food in the bottom of the cup, and when ready they will form chrysalises attached to paper that covers the top of the cup. After they emerge as adult butteflies, it is delightful to observe them for a few days and then release them into the wild on a sunny day. Butterflies are solar-powered. They will find flowers for nectar, pollinate the flowers as they go from one to another and lay eggs on their preferred host plants. Choose the activities that are best for your classroom. Or adapt an activity in a way that works for your students. An activity that is appropriate for a first grader may be too advanced for a preschooler. Whatever activities you choose, delight in the wonder of nature with your students! BEFORE Before the Caterpillars Arrive If your students have not experienced the wonder of caterpillars changing into butterflies, you may want to wait on these activities to keep it a surprise. Make copies of all the handouts in advance. Read Oh Look, A Butterfly! with your students. You will have copies of the book for each student to take home at the end of the unit, so they can share what they have learned with their families. Start learning about butterflies with 3 songs and an imaginative dance. The songs are simple, using familiar tunes with a call and response structure. The songs are about insect body parts and the butterfly life cycle. You can also introduce the unit with Is A Butterfly An Insect? Mini-Book, another way to learn about insect body parts. THEY RE HERE! The Caterpillars Are Here The live caterpillars will arrive on a Thursday. They come with care instructions, a butterfly cottage & life cycle poster. Begin using the What Is It Today? Bar Graph & the Caterpillar See, Predict & Learn Flipbook right away. These activities introduce your students to thinking & acting like scientists looking closely, recording information, making predictions and learning from results. 2

3 BUTTERFLY LAB Overview When the caterpillars have grown a little bit, review Caterpillar Body Parts with your students and have them take the What Is A Caterpillar? Yes/No Quiz. Continue observing the caterpillars each day, recording what you see on the What Is It Today? Bar Graph. Sing the songs to have fun and get the wiggles out as often as you like. When they all become chrysalises, transfer them into the Butterfly Cottage. BUTTERFLIES Butterflies Emerge When the butterflies emerge from the chrysalises, the students can observe them for a few days. Your class can study Butterfly Body Parts and compare them to Caterpillar Body Parts. You can also study the Butterfly Life Cycle Flipbook, now that you have seen the caterpillar, chrysalis and butterfly. To sustain the butterflies while you are observing them, feed them with sugar water wick or with cut fruit like oranges and melons. More information is in the Care Instructions. If a butterfly emerges incompletely or is deformed, there is sadly nothing you can do to help. Explain to the children that this happens sometimes. Place it in a bush to be eaten by another animal. Remember: caterpillars and butterflies are important parts of your local food web. CELEBRATION Release and Celebrate Plan a day of celebration when you release the butterflies! You can sing songs to thank the butterflies for all that you have learned about them. Outside temperature should reach at least 55 F during the day. Open your butterfly house and allow a butterfly to crawl onto a hand. The butterfly will borrow heat from your body to warm itself up to 68 F, so that it can fly away. Be gentle and patient. Encourage the children to care for the Earth and all her creatures. Altogether, take a pledge to care for the Earth. No job is too big, No action too small. For the care of the Earth is the task of us all! 3

4 CONTENTS Song: Head and Thorax, Abdomen, Abdomen 5 Song: Butterflies, Yes, I Like Butterflies 6 Song: For All the Butterflies 7 Changing Butterfly Dance 8 Is a Butterfly an Insect? Mini-Book 9 Day-by-Day Bar Graph Caterpillar & Chrysalis Flipbooks Butterfly Life Cycle Flipbook Caterpillar Body Parts 21 What Is a Caterpillar? Yes/No Quiz & Key Butterfly Body Parts Quiz & Key Butterfly Coloring 27 Butterfly Word Wall 28 Earth s Birthday Project cultivates hope for the future by inspiring wonder, learning & care of the natural world in children, teachers & parents. Since 1989, more than 15 million children have delighted in raising butterflies, learning about the natural world & supporting conservation. Our work empowers students to initiate environmentally responsible actions in school & at home EarthsBirthday.org

5 BUTTERFLY LAB Head and Thorax, Abdomen, Abdomen Sing to the tune of Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes This song is a quick way to get your students moving and having fun. Be sure to touch your head, touch your chest and your belly while you sing. Make up your own movements for 6 legs, 4 wings and 2 antennae. Once your class knows the words and gestures, don t forget to speed up! Head and thorax Abdomen, Abdomen Head and thorax Abdomen, Abdomen Six legs, four wings and two antennae Head and thorax Abdomen, Abdomen 5

6 BUTTERFLY LAB Butterflies, Yes, I Like Butterflies Call and response to the tune of Alouette, also known as Ravioli Butterflies, yes. I like butterflies. Butterflies, yes. They re the bugs for me. Do I see one butterfly? Yes, I see one butterfly. One butterfly. One butterfly. Ohhhhhhhh! Butterflies, yes. I like butterfli-ies. Butterflies, yes. They re the bugs for me. Do I see two antennae? Yes, I see two antennae. Two antennae. Two antennae. One butterfly. One butterfly. Ohhhhhhhh! CHORUS Do I see three body parts? Yes, I see three body parts. Three body parts. Three body parts. Two antennae. Two antennae. One butterfly. One butterfly. Ohhhhhhhh! CHORUS Do I see four pretty wings? Yes, I see four pretty wings. Four pretty wings. Four pretty wings. Three body parts. Three body parts. Two antennae. Two antennae. One butterfly. One butterfly. Ohhhhhhhh! CHORUS Do I see five caterpillars? Yes, I see five caterpillars. Five caterpillars. Five caterpillars. Four pretty wings. Four pretty wings. Three body parts. Three body parts. Two antennae. Two antennae. One butterfly. One butterfly. Ohhhhhhhh! CHORUS Do I see six skinny legs? Yes, I see six skinny legs. Six skinny legs. Six skinny legs. Five caterpillars. Five caterpillars. Four pretty wings. Four pretty wings. Three body parts. Three body parts. Two antennae. Two antennae. One butterfly. One butterfly. Ohhhhhhhh! CHORUS 6

7 BUTTERFLY LAB For All The Butterflies Sing to the tune of Frère Jacques I m a flower I m a flower Roots below Roots below Soil, rain and sunshine Soil, rain and sunshine Watch me grow! Watch me grow! I m an egg I m an egg On a leaf On a leaf Soon I ll be a caterpillar Soon I ll be a caterpillar Watch me eat! Watch me eat! I m a caterpillar I m a caterpillar You re one too You re one too Soon we ll both be butterflies Soon we ll both be butterflies Something new! Something new! I m a chrysalis I m a chrysalis Warm and dry Warm and dry Changing from the inside Changing from the inside Into a butterfly! Into a butterfly! I m a butterfly I m a butterfly Flying around Flying around Looking for a flower Looking for a flower Searching up and down Searching up and down I m a flower I m a flower Open to the sky Open to the sky I have lots of nectar I have lots of nectar For all the butterflies For all the butterflies 7

8 BUTTERFLY LAB Changing Butterfly Dance Materials: Instrumental music and audio system Simple Instructions: Guide students through an improvisational dance. Have students sit on the floor in a circle and ask them to imagine changing into butterflies how eggs hatch caterpillars, caterpillars crawl, eat and grow, then become a chrysalis and finally emerge as a butterfly with wings. Show them how to curl up as eggs, then push out of the egg and wiggle like a growing caterpillar, then wrap themselves tight into a chrysalis and then spread arms and open hands as butterflies emerge. Fly as gently as a butterfly. Lead them through the process several times. Then let them try it on their own with music. Use your dance often as a wake-up exercise or a break from study, allowing students to move and get the wiggles out. 8

9 An insect body has three parts... An insect also has... a head... two antennae... a thorax... two eyes... an abdomen. six legs. And most insects have 4 wings Is A Butterfly An Insect? A Butterfly IS An Insect! Name Color these pictures, cut along the heavy black line, then fold your paper on the dotted lines. Look! You've made your own little book about butterflies. Practice reading it to your friends!

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11 BUTTERFLY LAB Making a Bar Graph, Plus See, Predict & Learn Flipbooks Bar Graph Begin using the What Is It Today? Graph when the caterpillars arrive. Recording the life cycle stage on the graph will build a bar graph day-by-day and record the number of days for each stage. Depending on your students skills, you may want to do this as a whole class activity on the whiteboard, working together in pairs or individually. Each day, paste a symbol of a caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly on the bar graph. On the day that you release your butterflies, write the word FLY in the rectangle. Count and compare the number of days the organism was a caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly. The graph will be used in the final step with the flipbooks to compare the prediction with what was learned about the actual number of days in each life stage. Flipbooks The following flipbooks help the students begin to understand a scientific way of thinking observing closely, making a prediction and comparing the prediction with what actually happened. Make copies of the Caterpillar Flipbook, Chrysalis Flipbook and Life Cycle Flipbook in advance. They are 2-sided handouts. For the Caterpillar and Chrysalis Flipbooks, fold the handout in half lengthwise, then cut the paper halfway through on the two dotted lines. This makes 3 flaps that can be opened in sequence like a flipbook. Begin using the Caterpillar Flipbook when the caterpillars arrive. Gather a small group of students around the cup of caterpillars with the Caterpillar Flipboard and colored pencils/crayons. As a group, read aloud the 3 statements on the cover I SEE, I PREDICT, I LEARN discuss what they mean and how they work together step-by-step. Read the first statement I SEE open the flap and read the A CATERPILLAR. Ask the students to look closely at the caterpillars and describe aloud all the details that they can see. Then ask the students to accurately draw a caterpillar on the right side. Remind them to make the drawing just like the caterpillars they see and to include the details that were mentioned. Close the flap when the drawings are finished. Read the second statement I PREDICT open the flap and read the what is inside. Discuss with your students what it means to make a prediction. A prediction is a statement about what will happen based on experience and facts. How many days will the insects live as caterpillars? 11

12 Flipbooks continued Then ask the students to draw a prediction of how big the caterpillar will grow on the right side. Close the flap when the drawings are finished. Read the third statement I LEARN open the flap and read what is inside. Explain that the class is using the What Is It Today? Graph to record and learn the number of days that the caterpillars stay caterpillars. The class will wait and complete the flipbook when you have learned more. Continue to look closely at the caterpillars as they grow. Can you see more details when they are bigger? When the first caterpillar becomes a chrysalis, work together to complete the last part of the flipbook. Use the What Is It Today? Graph to count how many days the caterpillars stayed as caterpillars. Write the actual number of days in the flipbook. Then ask the students to draw how big the caterpillar actually grew on the right side. When the drawing is finished, open the three flaps and go through the sequence of what was observed, what was predicted and what you learned. Compare the three drawings and what was learned about the details of a caterpillar s body. Begin using the Chrysalis Flipbook when most of the caterpillars become chrysalises. Gather a small group of students around the cup of caterpillars with the Chrysalis Flipboard and colored pencils/crayons. As a group, read aloud the 3 statements on the cover I SEE, I PREDICT, I LEARN explain that you will be observing the chrysalis closely like you did with the caterpillars. Read the first statement I SEE open the flap and read the A CHRYSALIS. Follow the three parts of the sequence reading and drawing each part inside. Continue to look closely at the chrysalises. What is happening inside? When all the caterpillars pupate, transfer the paper and chrysalises into the butterfly cottage. When butterflies emerge, work together to complete the last part of the flipbook. Use the What Is It Today? Graph to count how many days were the insects chrysalises. Write the actual number of days in the flipbook. Then ask the students to draw how the butterflies look. When the drawing is finished, open the three flaps and go through the sequence of what was observed, what was predicted and what was learned. Compare the three drawings and what was learned about the details of a chrysalis and butterfly. Use the Life Cycle Flipbook after butterflies have emerged. The Life Cycle Flipbook is a good review of the complete life cycle. It has two folds and two cuts. Read the sequnce on the cover and help the students understand that it is a cycle that keeps going round and round. Then one at a time, lift a flap and read what is inside. Read the four stages. Cut out the four pictures. Have the students glue the pictures in the correct places. You could do this as a class or individually as an assessment. 12

13 What Is It Today? Graph Name Date Did you observe a caterpillar, chrysalis or butterfly today? Paste a symbol every day on the bar graph. On the day that you release your butterflies, write the word FLY in the rectangle day Caterpillar Chrysalis Butterfly 1 day

14 What Is It Today? Graph Symbol Cut Outs 14

15 Caterpillar Flipbook A CATERPILLAR I SEE I PREDICT I LEARN Name Date

16 A CATERPILLAR. I predict that the caterpillar will stay a caterpillar for days. I learned that the caterpillar stayed a caterpillar for days. This is how the tiny caterpillar looks. I predict the bigger caterpillar will look like this. I learned the biggest caterpillar looks like this.

17 Chrysalis Flipbook B CHRYSALIS I SEE I PREDICT I LEARN Name Date

18 Chrysalis Flipbook B A CHRYSALIS. This is how the chrysalis looks. I predict that a butterfly will emerge in days. I imagine the butterfly will look like this. I learned that in days a butterfly emerged. I learned the butterfly looks like this.

19 A CHRYSALIS CHANGES A CATERPILLAR GROWS Name Date A BUTTERFLY FLUTTERS AN EGG HATCHES

20 A butterfly flutters & lays eggs for days. An egg hatches in 3-5 days. A chrysalis changes for 7-10 days. A caterpillar grows for 5-10 days.

21 BUTTERFLY LAB Butterfly Life Cycle Cut out the four pictures. Paste the pictures inside the Life Cycle Flipbook.

22 BUTTERFLY LAB Caterpillar Body Parts A Caterpillar or Larva Larva the second stage of metamorphosis, another term for caterpillar Head the head includes the brain, a mouth, antennae and 12 eyes called ocelli Thorax the midsection is called the thorax where the legs and wings are attached Abdomen the abdomen contains its heart, digestive system and other organs True Legs all insects have 6 true legs attached to the thorax Pro-legs on the abdomen, pro-legs have microscopic hooks that help the caterpillar move and climb 22

23 What Is a Caterpillar? Name Date Look closely at the pictures below. Circle Yes below if it is a picture of a caterpillar. Circle No if the picture is not a caterpillar. YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO

24 KEY: What Is a Caterpillar? Name Date Look closely at the pictures below. Circle Yes below if it is a picture of a caterpillar. Circle No if the picture is not a caterpillar. YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO YES NO

25 BUTTERFLY LAB Butterfly Body Parts Abdomen the hind part of the butterfly includes the stomach, heart and other organs Antennae on the butterfly s head, used to taste the air and help with balance Compound eyes thousands of tiny lenses help the butterfly see in all directions Head the head includes the brain, the proboscis, 2 antennae and 2 compound eyes Leg the butterfly has 3 pairs of legs attached to its thorax Proboscis the butterfly tongue, which works like a drinking straw Thorax the midsection of the butterfly with 3 pairs of legs & 2 pairs of wings Spiracles tiny openings on the abdomen that let the butterfly breathe Wings 2 pairs of wings on the thorax allow the butterfly to fly 25

26 Butterfly Body Parts Name Date Can you match the words on this page to the correct body parts on the butterfly? All you have to do is write the correct letter inside each circle. A wings B antennae C head D thorax E abdomen F leg 26

27 KEY: Butterfly Body Parts Name Date Can you match the words on this page to the correct body parts on the butterfly? All you have to do is write the correct letter inside each circle. A wings B antennae C head D thorax E abdomen F leg B A C E D F 27

28 Butterfly Coloring Name Date Color your own butterfly and write a poem.

29 FEEDBACK Tell Us What You Think Name School Grade Please send your feedback to: Earth s Birthday Project, PO Box 1536, Santa Fe, NM : info@earthsbirthday.org Fax :: Thank You!

30 BUTTERFLY WORD WALL EarthsBirthday.org

31 Antennae EarthsBirthday.org

32 Butterfly EarthsBirthday.org

33 Crawling Caterpillar EarthsBirthday.org

34 Eat EarthsBirthday.org

35 Emerge EarthsBirthday.org

36 Fly EarthsBirthday.org

37 Eggs EarthsBirthday.org

38 Head EarthsBirthday.org

39 Chrysalis EarthsBirthday.org

40 Eyes EarthsBirthday.org

41 Legs EarthsBirthday.org