Three weeks ago we received five Painted Lady caterpillars. They lived in little cups with special food inside a small plastic aquarium. We watched them very carefully for days, waiting to see when they’d turn into chrysalises.
Yay! The one above has just started to change.
While we waited for the butterflies to emerge we made tie-dyed butterflies from coffee filters and created life cycle posters.
We also kept track of our observations in these life cycle journals.
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On the long weekend the butterflies finally emerged from their chrysalises. They really liked drinking the sweet juice from the oranges we gave them.
First thing this morning, we walked down to Lake Ida Anne and released our little friends.
Inspired from a Deep Space art lesson, the kids drew designs on butterfly templates (with oil pastels) then painted them with water colours.
What an amazing experience for your kids! Love the panda bear peaking out from behind your design on the top of your page! TaraThe Math Maniac
Wonderful! I completely missed doing caterpillars this year- and I wasn't successful last year anyway with the cannibalism that occurred. Clearly, I should have kept them all separate. Sheesh.~HeatherThe Meek MooseThe Meek Moose on TpT
I'm doing this at home right now is preparation for doing a unit with my class….the Smithsonian and Carolina Science did an extensive unit, if you care to look it up. I'm interested in your journal….is there somewhere to download it and would it be possible for you to tell a bit more about what the kids wrote in it, etc. Thanks for the ideas!
So much fun! What an engaging experience for your students. I also love their art work!:) Karli
So fun, Barb!Crystal
I am sure your students just loved this! It is a great experience for them to watch them grow and change and then to release them.LoriConversations in Literacy
Love…love…love your painted lady post. I love your release experiment with food. I am on it for next year! Thanks for stopping by my blog. I love to find other blogs as well with great science ideas. Renee at the Science School Yard