Print Preview

VITAL INFORMATION

Subject(s):

Reading, Science

Topic or Unit of Study:

Butterfly Life Cycle

Grade/Level:

Time Allotment:

10 class periods. 20 Min. per class.

Summary:

This lesson allows the students to discover the answer to a question posed in class by the students. This lesson will give the students an opportunity to experience the development of a caterpillar into a butterfly. The students will have the resources to answer their own question while utilizing a number of science skills.

Objective:

TSW identify the stages of a butterfly's life cycle
TSW compare and contrast the adult butterfly to the baby caterpillar
TSW analyze data and form results based on their observations
TSW

Standards:

AZ- Arizona Academics Standards

• Subject : Science

• Subject/ Grade/ Domain : GRADE 1

• Strand : Strand 1: Inquiry Process

• Concept : Concept 1: Observations, Questions, and Hypotheses
Observe, ask questions, and make predictions.

Performance Objective PO 2. : Ask questions based on experiences with objects, organisms, and events in the environment.

Performance Objective PO 3. : Predict results of an investigation based on life, physical, and earth and space sciences (e.g., animal life cycles, physical properties, earth materials).

• Concept : Concept 4: Communication
Communicate results of investigations.

Performance Objective PO 1. : Communicate the results of an investigation using pictures, graphs, models, and/or words.

Performance Objective PO 2. : Communicate with other groups to describe the results of an investigation.

• Strand : Strand 4: Life Science

• Concept : Concept 1: Characteristics of Organisms
Understand that basic structures in plants and animals serve a function

• Performance Objective PO 1. : Identify the following as characteristics of living things:

Example : ·growth and development, reproduction, response to stimulus

• Concept : Concept 2: Life Cycles
Understand the life cycles of plants and animals.

Performance Objective PO 2. : Identify similarities and differences between animals and their parents.

AZ- Arizona English Language Learner Proficiency Standards

• Strand : LISTENING AND SPEAKING

• Proficiency Stage ELL V: Performance Conditions: English learners at this stage of proficiency understand most standard speech. They understand and identify the main ideas and relevant details of discussions or presentations on a wide range of topics, including unfamiliar and technical ones. Listening communications come in the form of lectures, debates, discussions, and critiques. Students are able to comprehend nuanced meaning represented by speech variations in stress, intonation, pace, and rhythm. They engage in most communications with minimal errors. Students have a high degree of fluency and accuracy when speaking on topics that are abstract and not personal. Although students may make errors with some language forms, the errors do not interfere with meaning.

• Area : Delivery of Oral Communications

• Standard : The student will express orally his or her own thinking and ideas.

• Level : Early Advanced

Benchmark : Contribute to classroom and academic discussions by asking/answering questions, giving/ responding to feedback, supporting/refuting opinions, and analyzing points of view with occasional hesitancy because of the need to rephrase and search for words.

• Proficiency Stage ELL I: Performance Conditions: Students at this stage comprehend simple statements and questions. They understand the general idea of basic messages and conversations that pertain to common, routine matters. Their interactions are short, face-to-face, informal, and with one person at a time or in small groups. Although students can initiate and respond to basic statements, their speech is largely guided by questions and feedback from the teacher. English learners rely heavily on repetition, gestures, and other nonverbal cues to sustain conversations. Their speech is slow. Communications that students listen to and comprehend are short and include familiar routine words. Context strongly supports their utterances.

• Area : Delivery of Oral Communications

• Standard : The student will express orally his or her own thinking and ideas.

• Level : Advanced

Benchmark : Participate in small group discussions, including greeting familiar and unfamiliar people, responding appropriately to introductions by other people, and asking and responding to detailed questions regarding personal information, using phrases and simple sentences. LS-R3, LS-R5)

LESSON ACCOMODATIONS

Content:

Content needed to teach this lesson includes knowing the stages of the life cycle of a butterfly and the amount of time each one takes. Definition of words: metamorphosis and chrysalis.
Egg- 3-5 days
Caterpillar- 12-14 days
Chrysalis- 10-12 days
Butterfly (adult)- 7-14 days

Multiculturalism & Diversity:

Picture cues are provided to the students: I would provide review descriptive terms we could use in our writing with all students and draw a picture cue and have them draw a picture cue to help them remember word the word means.

Students will also be working in groups and discussing the butterfly before recording in their journals this allows the students to share ideas and scaffold the learning of others by simply voicing ideas before recording them students who are underdeveloped in their fine motor skills can type their observations instead of writing them.

Lesson Integration:

Math: can measure how long the caterpillar grows in inches
Can also do a number of word problems using the number of days the life cycle of a butterfly requires.
Can also be used to talk about the symmetry of a butterfly's wings.

Literacy: Students can read books about caterpillars and compare what they have learned to what they have read in the books. ie: identify the fantasy and realism in the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle.

Writing: Students are using their writing skills to record their observations in their butterfly journal.

IMPLEMENTATION

Rationale:

This activity is important because it allows students to explore a subject they really enjoy and apply the scientific method to discover new information. Students are able to pose a question, make a prediction, record what happens, talk about the results, and ask more questions. Students are highly engaged and are required to discover their own learning and use higher order thinking.

Procedures:

• Identify the problem: Why don’t we see baby butterflies?

• Form Hypothesis: Students should come with a good guess as to why they have never seen a baby butterfly and record it in their journal.
• Gather Data: Data should be collected and recorded. Students will record observations of the butterfly’s life cycle in logs and with digital pictures when the life cycle progresses to the next stage. Students will watch video “World of Nature: Monarch Butterfly: Milkweed to Mexico” (1994) from unitedstreaming. In the movie the caterpillar changes into a Monarch Butterfly. They will watch this movie after butterfly has emerged in order to help them remember each stage and review the information using pictures and words.
Link to journal pages (http://www.teacherplanet.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://www.earthsbirthday.org/butterflies/bflys/activitykit/contents.html)
• Analyze Data and Form Conclusions: Students will look back at their logs and draw the conclusion that the reason we don’t see baby butterflies is because they are caterpillars before they are butterflies. Students will also be asked to compare and contrast how the caterpillar and butterfly look using the pictures taken of the caterpillar and butterfly. Students will disuse their conclusions in a group and formulate at least one more question they would like to explore because of the project.

Discussion:

Daily I will allow students to discuss what they have learned and what questions they may have. I will record the questions and as the time progresses we will review and see if we've found any answers to those questions. After we have presented our results Students will be asked to sit on the Wonder Rug and think-pair-share their thoughts on how the butterfly project went and what they discovered. They will also have to pose a question that they would like to explore because of the project before they can leave the Wonder Rug.

Assessment Description:

Students have completed at least 10 journal entries recording the day, what the butterfly looked life and circling what picture of the stages most closely matched the butterfly, record how it changed from the last time they saw it, and predict what it will look like tomorrow.
Students have correctly sequenced the butterflies’ life cycle pictures and have written a 1-2 sentence description of what they observed at that stage in Kidspiration. Also include 1-2 sentences about what they have learned from this project and a question (which will be discussed later)
Students participate in the discussion of the results of why we do not see baby butterflies and what happens instead.

Assessment/Rubrics:

Use the rubrics to grade the journal and Kidspiration page.

Rubrics
Buttefly Journal
Butterfly Kidspiration

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES

Instructional Materials (handouts, etc.):

Link to journal pages (http://www.teacherplanet.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://www.earthsbirthday.org/butterflies/bflys/activitykit/contents.html)

Resources:

Materials and resources:
Link to journal pages (http://www.teacherplanet.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://www.earthsbirthday.org/butterflies/bflys/activitykit/contents.html)
video “World of Nature: Monarch Butterfly: Milkweed to Mexico” (1994) from unitedstreaming. www.unitedstreaming.com
Technology resources:
Digital Cameras, Kidspiration
The number of computers required is 1 per student.
Students Familiarity with Software Tool:
Students need to be able to drop and drag items as well as type a description.
Teacher uploads digital pictures into Kidspiration and creates template for students to use to for finial sequencing of life cycle

Butterfly Inquiry