YEA! The monarch caterpillars are back in Central Texas. We have 10 monarch caterpillars in the classroom. They have been very busy eating the milkweed we have brought in. The milkweed grows wild along the highways in Dripping Springs. Today our first butterfly emerged from its chrysalis and then about an hour later we found a butterfly on a potted plant by our window. We had lost a caterpillar about 10 days ago and could not find it. Well it crawled along the counter, up a pot and found a special place to spin its chrysalis. Today it emerged to the very excited screams of 22 students. AMAZING! Science life cycles at work in our classroom.
Monarch butterfly
- Life Cycle at Work in Our Classroom
We also have 22 painted lady butterflies for the EmilyAnne Butterfly Festival. They also started as caterpillars. We measured them, fed them, and watched them changed and transform into butterflies. From our classroom garden, we collected black swallowtail caterpillars off our dill plants. They are still eating the dill. Can’t wait to see what they do next.
What have you enjoyed most about having the caterpillars in our classroom? What have you learned about science, life cycles, details about butterlies, or more? How have you taken what you have leared in science and used it in your life this school year?
By: stoll14 on April 25, 2012 at 2:39 pm
I thought that the catipiller was lost forever until Mrs. Stoll found it. I thought that it would be a screaming event if it happened if the butterfly started to fly around the classroom and we couldn’t catch it.
By: stoll18 on April 25, 2012 at 2:40 pm
I liked that when the painted ladies were still little hungry caterpillars, I also liked the monarch caterpillars. I have learned many different things about butterflies from the classroom and things from the power point I did. I learned how to tell the difference between a male and female monarch, their life cycle, and that they eat a posionous plant to be a little more protected, but bad tasting. I used the things I knew to raise a little inch worm and three monarchs.
By: stoll13 on April 25, 2012 at 2:40 pm
It was super exiting to have butterflies in our classroom! I learnd a lot of facts about the butterflies lifecycle like; how they spin their cacoons. It was a great experience!!!!!
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By: stoll05 on April 25, 2012 at 2:40 pm
I love caterpillars in fact I found a caterpiller just yesterday but I don’t know if it will turn in to a butterfly or moth or what kind of butterfly or moth it is.
By: stoll01 on April 25, 2012 at 2:45 pm
I learned that a caterpillar can’t make his J shape until it’s big and strong enough. I thought that seeing all the caterpillars making their chrysalis and poping back out was a lot of fun.
By: Year 4 Henderson on July 10, 2012 at 4:29 am
Dear Mrs Stoll and Class,
What an amazing experiment with the Monarch butterflies! We would love to hear more from you.
Please visit our class blog page as we share our ideas and learnings with our families and friends from around the world.
http://year4henderson.global2.vic.edu.au
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards,
Year 4 Henderson
By: Mrs. Coor on July 24, 2012 at 3:19 pm
I’m a 4th grade science teacher & I’m thinking of doing this lab with my kids. Where did you get your caterpillars & any other supplies you needed?
By: lisastoll on July 24, 2012 at 3:48 pm
I found the caterpillars on the milkweed plants in my front yard. Then supply them with lots of fresh milkweed. We keep them in an old aquarium with a mesh lid. I’ve done this for the past 8 years and the students love it. You can order Painted Lady caterpillars from science stores but I like the native variety. We also use Tiger swallowtail found on dill from our school garden. So plant some plants in a school garden that attract butterflies and collect the caterpillars. Every couple of years we get to watch one spin its chrysalis or emerge from it. It only take a few minutes and we often miss it. We keep a daily journal of the progress.