Introduction
Sally has a pet caterpillar. She loves coming home from school everyday and watching her caterpillar crawl around in his cage. One day she got home form school and could not see to find her caterpillar crawling around anywhere! Where could he have gone? It would have been impossible for him to escape his cage. Complete this WebQuest to find out where her caterpillar went.
Task
After completing this webquest, students should know the four steps to the life cycle of a butterfly. The students should also know some other fun facts about butterflies.
Process
1. We will be dividing into groups of four to complete this activity. Each person in the group will be assigned a part of the butterflies life cycle. These are the four different assignments: Egg, Caterpilla(Larva), Puba, and Butterfly.
2. As a group we will watch a video about the life-cycle of a butterfly. Each member of the group should take notes on the specific part of the life cycle they are assigned as they learn about it in the video. After you watch the video, answer the questions as a group. (click on the picture to watch the video)
- What are the four stages of a butterflies life called?
- What is the first part of a butterflies life cycle?
- What do caterpillas do after coming out of the egg?
- What is the second part of a butterflies life cycle?
- What happens in the third part of a butterflies life cycle?
- How long does a caterpilla live before becoming a butterfly?
3. Next we are going to watch a video about just the thrid stage of a caterpillars life.
- What happens while a caterpilla in inside a cacoon?
- Do all caterpillars stay inside cacoons for the same amount of time?
4. Now that we know the parts of the butterflies life cycle, lets think about Sallys caterpillar again. Each group needs to draw a picture that explains a hypothesis about where Sally's caterpilla could be. We will share our ideas with the class.
5. We learned that their are thousands of types of butterflies. I wonder what kind of butterfly Sally's caterpillar will turn into. Click on the different links to research a few of the different kinds of butterflies. Write down one interesting fact about each type of butterfly.
- What is your favorite kind of butterfly?
- What makes that butterfly your favorite?
6. I think we can all agree that Sallys caterpillar is on his way to becoming a beautiful butterfly! Great job researching about butterflies and their life-cycles.
Evaluation
We are going to complete a worksheet for our final evaluation. Remember that this is going to be done individually and not with your group! Don't forget to color your pictures!
I have copies of the worksheet at the front of the classroom for everyone to complete.
Conclusion
We should all know the process of how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly now. Be on the look out for different types of butterflies outside. If you have additional questions about butterflies feel free to ask me!
Here is a website for additional practice.
Teacher Page
Standards
K.S.1A.1 Ask and answer questions about the natural world using explorations, observations, or
structured investigations.
K.S.1A.2 Develop and use models to (1) understand or represent phenomena, processes, and
relationships, (2) test devices or solutions, or (3) communicate ideas to others.