S.O.S. for Information Literacy

The Wonderful World of Butterflies

Description:

This lesson will let students discover the butterfly life cycle.

Goals & Objectives:

Goal: The students will learn the different stages that a caterpillar goes through to become a beautiful butterfly. They will discover what metamophasis is and what exactly happens when the caterpillar is transforming.

Materials & Sources:

Caterpillars

Butterfly net

The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle

Picture/vocabulary cards

Procedures:

Task 1: Before the lesson, I will preview the new vocabulary words that appear throughout the book. I will explain what these words mean and give examples. We will read The Hungry Caterpillar and discuss the different stages that the caterpillar goes through to become a butterfly.

Task 2: I will be making picture cards for each stage of the process to share with the students. We will talk about the four stages and what they are. The students will recall the stages with and without the pictures.

Task 3: We will make butterfly bracelets with beads that represent the stages of the life cycle. They will make these and then share each stage of the life cycle with the class. They will share what the most important thing that they learned.

Task 4: At home, the students will ask their parents to help them look up the butterfly life cycle on the internet. (using the links below) through the stages to learn more about each one. The students will explore each stage and come prepared to talk about what they have discovered.

Task 5: Throguhout the month of April, we will be watching caterpillars go through the stages of becoming a butterfly. We will write in our journals about what is observed each day. When the caterpillars have turned into butterflies, we will let them fly away. As the students final project, they will write a butterfly story about the life cycle of a butterfly.

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterfly/index.shtml

http://www.shrewsbury-ma.gov/schools/beal/curriculum/butterfly/butterflies.html

Assessment:

The final evaluation will be a butterfly story. Each student will watch the changes the caterpillars make. From the day when we get them as a small, baby caterpillars, when they eat and get fat, to the day when they spin their cacoons, the students will be watching the them. When the caterpillars turn into butterflies, we will go outside and watch them fly away. After the students have recorded each days progress in their journals, they will write the ending result. This will be their butterfly story. It will show that they know the life cycle of the butterfly.

Rubric:

3: The student includes the complete life cycle of a butterfly. They must tell me about the egg, the caterpillar, the cacoon, and the butterfly.

2: The student includes most of the life cycle of a butterfly. They have 2-3 of the stages in the cycle.

1: The student does not include any of the stages in the life cycle of a butterfly.

Sources:

Print this Lesson Plan

Presented By: Hannah Barker