WINGS OF IMAGINATION A Standards-based Butterfly Curriculum For Grades K-6 Preliminary Outline 4_16_12

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1 WINGS OF IMAGINATION A Standards-based Butterfly Curriculum For Grades K-6 Preliminary Outline 4_16_12 Note: The science standards in this curriculum are drawn from Content Knowledge: A Compendium of Standards and Benchmarks for K-12 Education, published by McREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning). The final draft of this curriculum will correlate these standards with the Florida Department of Education s Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS) for science, grades 1-6. LEVEL 1: Grades K-2 Lesson 1: Introduction to Butterflies McREL Science Standard 4. Understands the principles of heredity and related concepts Topic: Characteristics of organisms Benchmark 4.I.1: Knows that plants and animals closely resemble their parents Essential Question: What is a living thing? Overview: Butterflies are considered to be some of the most beautiful creatures on Earth. But not all butterflies are bright and colorful. In fact, some butterflies such as the hairstreaks in North America -- are quite drab looking. In this lesson, students are introduced to butterflies. They learn to identify the seven major parts of a butterfly and what their functions are. They also learn about the six characteristics of living things. Finally, they learn about the differences between a butterfly and a moth and compare and contrast basic characteristics. Identify common characteristics of living organisms. Understand that sometimes the young of a species resemble the adults and sometimes they do not. Identify the basic anatomy of a butterfly and explain the function of each part. Activity 1: Students create a KWL chart about butterflies, read Eric Carle s The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and label parts of a butterfly on a reproducible. Activity 2: Students complete a matrix of living and non-living things, based on six characteristics of living things.

2 Lesson 2: The World of Butterflies McREL Science Standard 6. Understands the relationships among organisms and their physical environment Topic: Populations and ecosystems Benchmark 6.I.2: Knows that living things are found almost everywhere in the world and that distinct environments support the life of different types of plants and animals Essential Question: How does an organism s environment contribute to the survival and growth of the organism? Overview: There are more than 20,000 different kinds (species) of butterflies that live on almost every continent in the world. (Antarctica is the exception.) In some areas, such as Canada, there are only a few hundred different species of butterflies. But in other areas, such as the small Central America country of Costa Rica, there are more than 1,200 different species of butterflies or about 5% of the total species worldwide. In this lesson, students learn about the role of the butterfly in an ecosystem as a pollinator, as a food source, and as an indicator of the ecosystem s well-being. Identify the environmental characteristics that make-up a butterfly s habitat. Understand that like other living organisms, butterflies need food, water, and shelter to survive. Understand the butterfly s role in pollination. Activity 1: Students complete a Butterfly Habitat activity sheet. They read a description of look at nine different pictures (picture of a beach, a desert, a garden, etc.) and circle yes if the habitat is ideal for butterflies and no if it is not. Activity 2: Students complete a graphic organizer showing the role of the butterfly in the ecosystem. Lesson 3: The Life Cycles of Organisms McREL Science Standard 5: Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms Topic: Life cycles Benchmark 5.II.1: Knows that plants and animals progress through life cycles of birth, growth and development, reproduction, and death; the details of these life cycles are different for different organisms. Essential Question: What do you think is the most important stage in the life cycle of a butterfly and why do you think that? Overview: Like every living organism on Earth, a butterfly has a distinct life cycle. But the life cycle of the butterfly is quite different from the life cycle of almost every other

3 living organism. In this lesson students are introduced to the concept of life cycles and learn how the life cycle of the butterfly is unique. They role-play the life cycles and create and illustrate their own mini-book about butterflies. They conclude the lesson by creating a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the similarities and differences in the life cycle of a butterfly, a frog, and a human being. Compare and contrast the life cycles of a butterfly and other organisms. Explain one difference between the life cycle of a butterfly and another organism. Describe how organisms change as they grow and mature. Activity 1: Students create a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the similarities and differences in the life cycle of a butterfly and a frog. Activity 2: Students color six drawings that show the life cycle of a butterfly and then write captions for the drawings, and finally cut out and arrange the drawings in proper sequence (sequence of events). LEVEL 2: Grades 3-4 Lesson 1: The Migration of Monarch Butterflies McREL Science Standard 5: Understand the structure and function of cells and organisms. Topic: Regulation and behavior Benchmark 5.II.3: Knows that the behavior of individual organisms is influenced by internal cues (e.g., hunger) and external cues (e.g., changes in the environment, and that humans and other organisms have senses that help them to detect these cues. Essential Question: How do migration habits of monarch butterflies help insure their survival? Overview: At the end of every summer, approximately 13 species of North American butterflies migrate more than 2,800 miles (4,500 km) from eastern Canada to their winter home in a remote area high in the Mexican mountains. In this lesson, students examine the migration patterns of the monarch butterfly. They then create their own map based on a Monarch butterfly s migration from her home in North America to Mexico and back to North America, completing her life cycle. Understand that migration is an adaptation that helps many animals survive. Identify one migration path of the Monarch butterfly on a map. Explain the importance of the butterfly to Mexico.

4 Activity 1: Students create a color-coded map that illustrates the approximate timeline of the fall migration of Monarch butterflies, based on the approximate latitude of migrating butterflies throughout the fall migration. Activity 2: Students play a game in which they simulate the migration of Monarch butterflies in face of habitat destruction or creation cards. Lesson 2: The Classification of Living Things McREL Science Standard 7: Understands biological evolution and the diversity of life. Topic: Classifications of organisms Benchmark 7.II.2: Knows the different ways in which living things can be grouped and purposes of different groupings. Essential Question: Why is the classification of living things important? Overview: In the 18 th century, scientist Charles Linnaeus organized living organisms into distinct groups, based on similar characteristics, starting with very general similarities down to very specific similarities. This classification system is still in modern use. In this lesson students learn about the scientific organization of living things (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Species) by studying the classification of the butterfly. Understand that classification is the arrangement of objects, ideas, or information into groups, the members of which have one or more characteristics in common. Explain how and why butterflies and other living things are classified. Determine the characteristics that distinguish groups of organisms. Activity 1: Students will read an informational text about classification and then complete a classification crossword puzzle to uncover the answer to a butterfly riddle while reinforcing their knowledge of scientific classification. Activity 2: Students research the 102 species of butterflies in Monroe Country, group them into six families according to their characteristics (identified by wingspan, life history, flight, caterpillar s hosts, adult food, habitat, and range), and create a PowerPoint presentation about The Butterflies of Monroe County. Lesson 3: Endangered Organisms McREL Science Standard 6: Understand relationships among organisms and their physical environment. Topic: Relationships between organisms and the environment Benchmark 6.II.4: Knows that changes in the environment can have different effects on different organisms (e.g., some organisms move in, others move out; some organisms survive and reproduce, others die)

5 Essential Question: Should the needs of humans for land development and growth take precedence over the needs of endangered species in the environment? Overview: In August 2010 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued an emergency listing of the Miami blue butterfly as an endangered species, noting that the only surviving Miami blue population appears to be a few hundred living in the Key West National Wildlife Refuge, about 50 miles west of Bahia Honda. In this lesson, students explore the concepts of endangered species and extinct species as they relate to butterflies and learn how butterflies and other plants and animals become endangered as the result of both natural causes and human activity. Describe reasons why biodiversity is important. Discuss the ways that human activities contribute to declining biodiversity. Devise plans to help protect endangered species. Activity 1: Students complete an activity sheet in which they describe how different organisms find basic needs in their ecosystem. Activity 2: Working in teams, students create a report on the Miami Blue and develop a plan to protect the Miami Blue from extinction. Their presentation includes a map showing the range that the Miami Blue once occupied (from the Dry Tortugas to St. Petersburg and Daytona Beach), an explanation of what contributed to the Miami Blue s declining population, and recommendations for preserving their remaining habitat. LEVEL 3: Grades 5-6 Lesson 1: The Milkweed Plant and the Monarch Butterfly in Our Ecosystem McREL Science Standard 6: Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment. Topic: Interdependence of organisms Benchmark 6.II.1: Knows the organization of simple food chains and food webs. Essential Question: How is a food chain relevant to all living organisms? Would monarch butterflies survive if the milkweed plant died out? Overview: The Milkweed plant is as important to the survival of the Monarch butterfly as water is to a human being. Likewise, there are other plants, such as violets, that are necessary for butterfly survival. In this lesson, students learn that in any ecosystem plants and animals such as the Milkweed plant and the butterfly -- are dependent on each other for food and can be linked together in food chains. They identify the relationship between certain plants, such as violets or the Milkweed plant, and the butterflies that regularly feed on their nutrients.

6 Identify the interdependence of the butterfly and other organisms within a system. Understand the major types of organisms that live in an ecosystem: producers, consumers, and decomposers. Understand the three types of consumers: herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. Activity 1: Students complete a diagram of a butterfly food web, showing the different relationships among predators and prey and the flow of energy from one species to another. Activity 2: Students complete an activity to show how monarch butterflies use a combination of visual cues (through their compound eyes specialized for seeing colors, direction, and movement) and chemical cues (through chemoreceptors) to find milkweed. Students also design a simple experiment to answer the question, Can monarch butterflies find their food in a simple maze? Lesson 2: How Abiotic and Biotic Factors Affect Organisms in an Ecosystem McREL Science Standard 6: Understands relationships among organisms and their physical environment Topic: Populations and ecosystems Benchmark 6.III.2: Knows factors that affect the number and types of organisms an ecosystem can support (e.g., available resources; abiotic factors such as quantity of light and water, range of temperatures, and soil composition; disease; competition from other organisms within the ecosystem; predation) Essential Question: What can we learn from butterflies about the state of an ecosystem? Overview: Scientists explore new ideas or confirm or correct previous knowledge by following the steps in the Scientific Method. In this lesson, plan and conduct a simple investigation based on the scientific method to test a theory about whether or not temperature (or light) affects the transformation of caterpillars to butterflies. Understand that an ecosystem consists of the biological community that occurs in some local. Understand how both abiotic and biotic factors affect organisms in any ecosystem. Design an experiment to test the effect of temperature or light on butterfly metamorphosis. Activity 1: Students use the Scientific Method to design an experiment to determine whether or not temperature (or light) affects the transformation of caterpillars to butterflies.

7 Activity 2: Students construct a biome in a box that is conducive to a butterfly population and includes both biotic and abiotic factors that affect the butterfly population. Lesson 3: The Diversity of Life and Co-Evolution McREL Science Standard 7. Understand biological evolution and the diversity of life Topic: Natural selection and biological evolution Benchmark 7.III.1: Knows basic ideas related to biological evolution (e.g., diversity of species is developed through gradual processes over many generations; biological adaptations, such as changes in structure, behavior, or physiology, allow some species to enhance their reproductive success and survival in a particular environment) Essential Question: How do adaptation and natural selection affect the survival of entire species? Overview: Butterflies and other animals have evolved, adapted, and diversified together with their plant partners over tens of millions of years. In this lesson, students explore the processes and patterns of co-evolution, including the evolution of the butterfly s tongue (proboscis) at the same time as flowering plants evolved. Finally, they also identify ways in which butterflies have evolved different ways to protect themselves in their environment, such as imitation of butterflies that are distasteful to predators to eating poisonous plants as caterpillars which makes them poisonous as adult butterflies. Understand that co-evolution is when two or more species actually change over time to match each other so both species get what they need to survive. Compare and contrast the feeding behaviors of moths and butterflies to explain the process of co-evolution. Describe why some flowers attract specific pollinators. Activity 1: Students design a simulation to demonstrate the interdependence of living things within an ecosystem. They use straws, artificial flowers, and apple juice to show that not all pollinators can pollinate all flowers. Activity 2: Students are given a description of three different environments and then design an animal that is adapted to survive in that environment.