Our butterfly life cycle study is always a highlight
and this year was no different! These past few weeks
have been all about caterpillars and butterflies
and metamorphosis, oh my!
We went hands-on all the way as we learned about
the life cycle, metamorphosis, pollination, and more!
We began our unit with a KWL chart and since
we visited a live butterfly exhibit and botanical garden
the week before we already knew a lot!
With our books at the ready and our charts all
in place my class was beyond excited to get started.
Or maybe it was the fact that our caterpillars had just arrived!
You can download this free
Each student received their own caterpillar
and of course, named them! Pure kid-heaven!
We used our life cycle journals to
record dates and the changes we observed each day.
Once the life cycle was complete and our last
butterfly emerged from it's chrysalis
we analyzed and discussed the data we recorded.
Students added the dates of significant changes
to a calendar. I then placed them in groups with these
discussion cards. They used their calendars to
compare dates and data, discuss with their friends, and
count the days between changes in the life cycle.
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We learned some BIG words during this unit! My kiddos
were quite proud of themselves as they used words like
camouflage, metamorphosis, and pollinators during
our discussions and as we worked through our labs!
We had several mini-lessons along the way
and after each one we added our written responses
to our culminating projects, this foldable butterfly booklet.
Each piece of the booklet has a mini-lesson with
visuals or charts as well as a writing component.
Each piece of the booklet has a mini-lesson with
visuals or charts as well as a writing component.
I love to get my kids writing, especially about science!
My kids were in all their glory as we did a little
pollination simulation!
How do butterflies help plants grow? Here's what we did
to find out. But first, we dressed up our fingers
as very hungry butterflies!
To my kids, heaven on earth is a pipe cleaner
antennae wrapped around your finger!
100% engagement I tell ya!
Note to self: Do MORE with these!
We talked about the bristles of the pipe cleaner being like
the tiny hairs on many insect's feet.
Perfect for holding pollen.
I saved this mini-lesson until after our lab
so we could compare our findings to the lesson and talk more
about how butterflies help plants grow.
Oh, and what to do with all that leftover macaroni
now that you've used all the cheese?
Make macaroni commas of course!
You can download this free printable:
To integrate math into our butterfly unit, we did this
teacher guided activity.
Students carefully placed their caterpillars on the page then
measured and compared the lengths of the paths
their caterpillars crawled.
I showed my class this absolutely incredible and BEYOND beautiful
video from Ted Talks on YouTube made by filmmaker
Louie Schwartzberg. Click on the picture to view it.
Well now, being a butterfly, or a caterpillar for that matter, is not
all sunshine and nectar. Butterflies have their problems too.
We matched some problems to solutions in the butterfly's life cycle.
My class is completely enthralled with the compound eye,
although a tad bit offended that our eyes are just called
"simple" eyes.
We used kaleidoscopes with this lab to help us imagine
life through an insect's eyes and to compare
a compound eye to a simple eye.
Our learning labs were definitely a highlight, but learning
about a butterfly's life cycle continued across our curriculum.
During our literacy centers we held a
"butterfly bop" and bopped around the room to
determine if butterfly "facts" were true or false.
And that about wraps up our butterfly unit! We added all
of our mini-books and writing to our butterfly booklets
to display at our Spring open house next week!
If you need more resources for your own butterfly unit
you can find this complete unit in my TeachersPayTeachers shop.
Here's a little peek at all that's included:
The unit includes 9 mini-lessons and 6 learning labs.
Each mini-lesson and lab includes a writing component
or mini-book that can be added to the final project, the
foldable butterfly booklet. I've added
several versions of many of the writing pieces and prompts
to make differentiating a snap! Customize your booklets
by choosing the versions you wish to use!
I've included everything you need to teach a complete unit including
lesson plans, vocabulary work, reference charts and assessment.
And the good new is... it's on sale!
Don't miss the Teacher Appreciation Sale happening
May 5-6 on TeachersPayTeachers!
Save 20% on my entire store and save even more
with the promo code: THANKYOU
For even more savings, be sure to leave feedback on all
previous purchases to earn credits redeemable at checkout!
Every teacher loves a little extra credit, right?
Happy teacher appreciation week, friends!
Hands down, the BEST butterfly unit I've ever seen. I have a bunch of butterfly units now, and your's outdoes them all :-)
ReplyDelete^^agreed! fabulous Linda!
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