Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Raising caterpillars in kindergarten!

We've had an amazing start to the school year, and one of the highlights has been our unit studying monarch caterpillars! Below are some pictures of our studies.

When we first got the caterpillars, they were large and ate TONS of milkweed! Here are our scientists taking notes and drawing what they observe in the caterpillar cage:










We used the book Monarch Butterfly by Gail Gibbons to teach us about the process our caterpillars were going through. We also had quite a few students who had already raised caterpillars before, so we looked to them as experts!


Here we are demonstrating the life cycle of a butterfly:


Before we knew it, our butterflies had formed chrysalises and then began to emerge!


 

When their wings were ready, we took the butterflies out to the school forest to let them go. It took a few tries, but eventually they all flew away! (Except one who had a damaged wing - we kept him for a while and then eventually let him go as well.) The kids were cheering as the butterflies flew away to go on their long journey south.



Thanks to all the parents who helped support our studies by bringing milkweed, offering advice, and talking about the butterflies with your children!

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