Butterfly Life Cycle Teacher Page

Butterfly Life Cycle

Teacher Page

A WebQuest for 1st Grade Science

Lincoln School, New Bedford, MA.

Introduction

This Web Quest was created to familiarize students with the life cycle of the butterfly. Children will become familiar with the four stages of egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and finally the emergence of the adult butterfly. Students will also learn how to work together and access information on the Internet.

The webquest also fulfills graduate course requirements for "Using the Computer as a Research Tool" at Framingham State College, Framingham MA.

Students

This webquest is designed for the first grade level but may be altered for older students. The Massachusetts standards addressed in the project are listed below in the standards section.

2. In order for this project to run smoothly, I suggest you enlist extra assistance from older students or parent volunteers for the Internet and art tasks.

3. Students should be familiar with the use of a K-W-L chart to explore what they know, want to know and have learned about butterflies.

4. In addition, students will need basic computer skills to turn on the computer and print a document from a web site. An adult or older student will assist learners in navigating the sites included in the quest. These helpers should also read the prompt questions to students as they explore the web sites.

Standards

Based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Science and English/ Language Arts, this lesson will address the following standards:

Science:

Inquiry and Experimentation PreK-2

Skills of Inquiry:

· Ask questions about objects, organisms, and events in the environment.

· Record observations and data with pictures, numbers, or written statements.

· Discuss observations with others.

Life Science and Biology PreK-2

Life Cycles PreK-2

Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles, and that life cycles vary for different living things. Using either live organisms or pictures/models, observe the changes in form during the life cycle of a butterfly or frog.

Heredity PreK-2

Describe ways in which many plants and animals closely resemble their parents in observed appearance. Look at and discuss pictures of animals from the same species. Observe and discuss how they are alike and how they are different.

Language Arts:

General Standard 1:

Discussion PreK-2

Follow agreed upon rules of discussion including waiting ones turn and speaking one at a time.

General Standard 2:

Questioning, Learning and Contributing PreK-2

Contribute knowledge to a class discussion

General Standard 22:

Standard English Convention PreK-2

Use correct English mechanics.

In addition to these state standards, children are expected to work cooperatively with their group and the adults or older students who assist with the webquest. This is an important element of the quest and is a part of the evaluation rubric. Students are also expected to be able to express what they know and would like to learn about butterflies before beginning the quest. After completing the quest and the artwork, students will express what they have learned from this project. They will write about what they have learned and share their ideas with the class.

Teacher Process

Begin the adventure by creating a K-W-L chart about butterflies with the class. This will activate prior knowledge. Include a list of student's questions about butterflies in the W section of the K-W-L chart. A copy of a blank K-W-L may be obtained here.

The K-W-L is a three-column chart to record student knowledge. The columns are labeled K, W & L to reflect...

K – What we KNOW
W – What we WANT TO KNOW
L – What we LEARNED

Have a shared reading of Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons (Reading level: Ages 4-8). This book deals with the 4 stages of the Monarch life cycle. When students create their art, the colors should be true to the pictures they have observed in the book and the Internet.

If you are planning to hatch an egg in the classroom the book The Butterfly House by Eve Bunting, Greg Shed (Illustrator) is also an excellent resource. This book focuses on Painted Lady butterflies.

Students will use the webquest to explore web sites that show the four stages of the butterfly lifecycle. Students should ask themselves the following questions provided on the quest page. An adult or older student should be helping them during Internet use and can prompt them with the question.

Do butterflies grow up differently from people?

Do they change as they grow?

Find the names of the 4 life stages of the butterfly.

What do you see?

What type of caterpillar is this?

After their quest, students will work on art projects to create the four stages of the butterfly. The directions for the artwork are included in the Butterfly Art section below.

Student groups will discuss what they have learned. Task 3 gives students 5 starter questions to reflect on. Groups will write four complete sentences about what they have learned. These ideas are contributed to the K-W-L chart to complete the L section (what we have Learned)

The teacher and students will complete the K-W-L chart by recording what students learned about caterpillars. If there are questions in the W section that have not been answered, the teacher could use the additional resources listed on this webquest and a presentation computer setup to find answers to those questions.

A rubric is provided with this quest to assist the teacher in evaluation.

Student Process

1. Your teacher will read you some great books about butterflies and ask students what they know about them before starting this webquest.

2.The teacher will assign a partner for you to work with. It is important that you work well together and share ideas.

3.You and your partner will look at the webquest sites to see pictures of the life cycle of the butterfly and different kinds of butterflies.

4.You and your partner will find a poster of the 4 stages of the painted lady butterfly. You will each print out and color the poster. The poster tells the correct colors for each stage of the butterfly life cycle. The teacher or an older student will give you directions.

5.You will make art projects of the butterfly life cycle. These are an egg on a leaf, a caterpillar, a butterfly that will emerge from its chrysalis and an adult butterfly. The teacher will give you the materials and directions.

6.Discuss with your partner what you have learned. Write 4 complete sentences about what you learned.

Butterfly Life Cycle Art Directions

· Eggs on a Leaf

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Green construction paper with a leaf drawn on it, crayons or markers, scissors, and Q-Tips (the Q-Tip ends will be the eggs).

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the leaf from the construction paper with scissors.

Draw in the leaf veins (optional)

Glue Q-Tip ends onto the leaf for eggs.

· Egg Carton Caterpillars

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Egg cartons, crayons or markers, scissors, and pipe cleaners. (Googly eyes are optional)

CATERPILLAR DIRECTIONS:

Separate 4, 5, or 6 cups from an egg carton.

Using the point of a scissors, an adult should make 2 small holes at one end for the antennae.

Insert pipe cleaners for the antennae.

Add eyes, a mouth, and decorate.

· Butterfly Emerging from Chrysalis

MATERIALS NEEDED:

Toilet-paper tube

Tongue depressor or ice cream pop stick

Butterfly graphic printed on heavy paper (see Billy Bear Butterflies and Bugs for images)

6" (150 mm), piece of pipe cleaner, folded in half

Markers or crayons

Scissors and glue

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut out and color a butterfly image. Make both halves look the same. The life cycle poster gives the colors for the painted lady butterfly. Put a small hole at the top of the butterfly's head.

2. Color the toilet paper tube to look like a chrysalis. (A monarch butterfly's chrysalis is green, the painted lady butterfly’s is reddish brown.)

3. Take a piece of pipe cleaner and shape it like the letter "V". Put one point through the little hole in the butterfly's head and then twist it to look like antennae. Butterflies use these "feelers" to learn about their environment.

4. Glue the butterfly to one end of the tongue depressor or pop stick. Let the glue dry.

5. Curl the butterfly's wings and slide it into the chrysalis.

6. Pull the stick to make the beautiful butterfly come out of the chrysalis. Fly your butterfly like a real one!

· The Adult Butterfly

MATERIALS NEEDED:

A butterfly image that may be colored in. (see Billy Bear Butterflies and Bugs for images)

Evaluation

At the end of this project, students should be able to name and describe the four stages of the butterfly life cycle. They should also know that there are different species of butterflies. Students should also be able to express what they have learned in writing and be able to share that orally with the class.

A copy of the quest rubric may be printed out here.

Conclusion

Children should be able to complete the quest tasks with minimal assistance from adults or older students.

This quest should engage students in learning about butterflies and improve their skills in research and writing.

The following books may be used for additional resources:

Reading level: Preschool

A New Butterfly: My First Look at Metamorphosis (My First Look at Nature) by Pamela Hickman, Heather Collins (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 4-8

Amazing World of Butterflies and Moths by Louis Sabin, Jean Cassels Helmer (Illustrator)

Butterflies (All Aboard Reading, Level 1) by Emily Neye, Ron Broda (Illustrator)

The Butterfly House by Eve Bunting, Greg Shed (Illustrator)

Butterfly Story by Anca Hariton

From Caterpillar to Butterfly by Deborah Heiligmam Published by HarperCollins Publishers

Look...a Butterfly (Now I Know Series) by David Cutts, Eulala Conner (Illustrator)

Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons Reading level: Ages 4-8

Where Butterflies Grow (Picture Puffins) by Joanne Ryder, Lynne Cherry (Illustrator)

Reading level: Ages 9-12

The Life Cycle of a Butterfly (The Life Cycle Series) by Bobbie Kalman, Margaret Amy Reiach (Illustrator)

More Web Site Resources: (They may be used to extend the webquest)

Make Edible Caterpillars

For fun, try Butterfly math.

The Fascinating World of Butterflies - This site has interesting facts about butterflies and great photos.

Take A Closer Look! - These images let you see butterflies in a very different way. These were created using a scanning electron microscope.

Send a butterfly postcard!

What is a Butterfly? - Lots of information about butterflies and moths.

Butterflies of North America - Discover the butterfly species in your state.

Butterflies for Kids - Butterfly information, printables, puzzles and a quiz to test your knowledge.

Butterfly School - Learn more about butterflies, their behaviors and how to build a butterfly house.

Billy Bear Butterflies and Bugs – Butterfly activities, games, crafts and graphics.

Parts of a Butterfly – This site shows the butterfly body parts.

Credits & References

The images of the caterpillar and butterfly in the heading of this page came from the Thinking Fountain Metamorphosis page.

The remaining resources for the student webquest are listed on that quest page.

Last updated on 04-May-2002. Based on a template from The WebQuest Page