Fascinating Facts!

Did you know that the caterpillars will stay in the cup and will eat, spin silk and grow to TEN times their original size?   WOW!!

After seven to ten days you can see they hang upside down and harden into chrysalides (chrysalides are also known as pupae).

Raising and Rescuing Our Own Butterflies

This week, the pupils of parents who are key workers have been observing what’s happening in the clear plastic cup.

Sadly, one of the caterpillars would not make a chrysalis and knocked the other chrysalides off the top of the lid!   This initiated our team to come up with a rescue plan.

Our team were very keen to help and moved quickly into our computer suite to research how to save fallen chrysalides!   We found written and pictorial instructions how to re-hang a chrysalis and followed them carefully.  The operation was in full flow!

Thank you to everyone in our team – from the researchers to the rescuers.   A particular thank you to Grace Wheeler who helped me re-hang three chrysalides by gluing the cremasters onto small pieces of  paper towel and then attach them to the sides of the netted butterfly garden.  It wasn’t easy – there were a few attempts but we preserved and succeeded!

What happened to the caterpillar that wouldn’t make a chrysalis?

We decided to leave it in the cup (with food) for a while to see if it would climb the the top, make a ‘j’ shape and build a shell.  It wouldn’t!  After a long discussion about Darwin’s theory, we decided to set it free and hope for the best!  A difficult decision as we knew the temperature outside was less than 21 degrees!

Watch these informative videos showing the caterpillar to butterfly process for far.

Setting up you Chrysalis Station: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Prw99oojY0

Caring for your Chrysalis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcwOzy72vcM

Look what is happening now.  After making a ‘j’ shape, the caterpillars make a chrysalis.  Can you research to find out what’s happening inside this silky case?   There’s LOTS going on but we can’t see inside!

Here are some  interactive games you may wish to play:

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/scienceforkids/life_cycle/butterfly_lifecycle.htm

Butterfly Life Cycle – Science Game for Kids

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Search.aspx?q=life%20cycle%20of%20a%20butterfly

https://www.softschools.com/science/butterfly/life_cycle.jsp

In Year Two, this term, we have been learning about the life cycle of a frog and butterfly.  We’ve also read for pleasure lots of other non-fiction books about life cycles of different living things.  We recently read a lovely fictional story called ‘Tadpole’s Promise’ by Jeanne Willis.  You can watch a story teller on YouTube.

In our year two classrooms we set up a live butterfly garden!  Wow!!   We had to read the instructions to understand fully how to care for the caterpillars properly.  Having already learned how to read scales, in maths, we checked the temperature – daily because 21 degrees is the best temperature for the caterpillars to grow healthy.  Did you know that?  We do.  This was and is an unforgettable opportunity for us to watch caterpillars change into chrysalides and then emerge as beautiful Painted Lady Butterflies.

We were actually raising and feeding our very own butterflies and then releasing them into the wild!  Amazing! The entire transformation from caterpillar to adult butterfly takes about three to five weeks.

Unfortunately, due to the present situation and school opening only for pupils who parents are key workers, year two pupils can’t see these changes in the classroom but don’t worry, we’ll post photos of this amazing transformation, so keep watching!   You may wish to write a diary of the daily changes and illustrate them.  Can you spot what’s the same and what’s different?  Look carefully!   Please enjoy researching to find out more before the next posting.