Introduction
Hello scientist researcher! We have just caught a wonderful butterfly! Did you ever stop to think about how this butterfly came to be so beautiful? Was it just born that way or did it have to go through stages? Being the scientists that we are, we are going to research our butterfly's life cycle so we can learn and teach our new friend how he became who he is today. By exploring the internet, you will learn about the life cycle of a butterfly and the different stages of its life so that you can teach our butterfly what it went through before it became so beautiful!
The Standard we will be covering is:
GLE: Strand 3 Characteristic and Interactions
- There is a fundamental unity underlying the diversity of all living organisms
- Organisms have basic needs for survival
- Organisms progress through life cycles unique to different types of organisms
- Identify and sequence life cycles (birth, growth, and development, reproduction and death) of animals (i.e, butterfly, frog, chicken, snake, dog)
- Record observations on the life cycle of different animals (e.g., butterfly, dog, frog, chicken, snake)
Task
For your task, you will work in groups of four and each of you will be assigned a specific stage in our butterfly's life cycle that you will research.
You will watch the video clip about your assigned stage of our butterfly friend's life cycle. You will also explore the given websites to learn more about your stage and the proccesses that butterlies go through before they bloom into the beautiful butterfly that we see. Then, you and
your group will design a poster. You will each create a craft of your assigned stage within the butterfly life cycle that will be presented to the class and to our butterfly friend!
Process
- You will start by viewing the video clip of your assigned stage to start your research on the life cycle of a butterfly.
Then you will each research your assigned stage and work together to create a poster and will inform your group members of the stage you have just researched in the butterfly cycle. Each of you will contribute your researched stage to this poster. This will help you see the four stages all together in the order they happen.
*Draw your stage in the correct box on the poster. Record your research on the back of the poster on the back of the box where you drew the picture of your stage on.*
*Your research will include*
-The definition of your stage
-Its size
-Its shape
-Its color
-What it looks like
-What happens in this stage?
Poster
Life Cycle of the Butterfly poster
Stage 1 (Egg)
The first stage of the butterfly life cycle is the egg. A mother butterfly will lay an egg where it will stay an egg anywhere from 3 days to 9 months.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/jr/Egg_Hatch.html
Stage 2 (Larva)
The second stage of the butterfly life cycle is the, caterpillar (larva) stage. In this stage the caterpillar will eat lots of leafy plants to store up for its next stage. The caterpillar stage can last from 2 weeks to a month.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/CaterpillarFeast.html
Stage 3 (Pupa)
The third stage of the butterfly life cycle is, the chrysalis (pupa) stage. After storing up on leafy plants, the caterpillar will stay cuddled up in this cocoon stage for a few days OR many months, until it is ready to come out.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/ChrysalisEcloseClip1.html
Stage 4 (Butterfly)
The fourth and final stage of the butterfly cycle is the butterfly (adult) stage! Once the caterpillar is ready to come out of the chrysalis stage, he or she blooms into a beautiful butterfly. Our butterfly can live for a few days or 6-12 months where it will then start this life cycle all over again.
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/monarch/ChrysalisEcloseClip1.html
Websites
Next, you will explore more about the stages of the butterfly life cycle using these websites:
Craft
Finally, each of you will create a craft of your assigned stage that will be presented to the class and our butterfly friend!
Evaluation
Life Cycle of a Butterfly
| EXCELLENT (5) | GOOD (4) | OK (3) | POOR (2) | |
| Cooperation |
Student participated and actively contributed to the group and the final product. |
Student participated and contributed to the final product. |
Student did participate but did minimal work. |
Student did not participate and work with group. |
| Research | Student viewed video, researched their stage of the life cycle, and completed life cycle poster with 1-2 errors | Student did view video, research their stage of the life cycle, and partially recorded information on life cycle poster with 3 or more errors. | Student did view video, research their stage of the life cycle, and partially recorded information on life cycle poster with 3 or more errors. | Student did not view videos, research their stage of the life cycle, or record information on recording pages. |
| Craft | Student was an active participant in the creation of the life cycle stage craft. | Student created the life cycle stage craft, and participation was adequate. | Student did create the life cycle stage craft, but participation and effort was limited. | Student did not create the life cycle stage craft. |
| Presentation | Student was an active participant in the presentation and the information was accurate. | Student participated in presentation, information was accurate. | Student participated minimally in presentation, information was somewhat accurate. | Student did not participate in the presentation, information was inaccurate. |
Score: _______
Conclusion
Congratulations! You are now an expert in the life cycle of the butterfly. Now you have learned what a butterfly goes through before
it evolves into its final and most beautiful stage, the adult butterfly. Our butterfly friend is very thankful that he now knows what he went through before becoming a beautiful butterfly! He hopes that you have enjoyed learning about his stages too!