Visitors in Room 110

 On May 6th, some visitors came to our class, and they haven't left, yet!  

As you probably know from your child, we are taking care of 24 Painted Lady caterpillars!  Each caterpillar arrived in its own little cup with its food.  We numbered each cup, and then the children decided which caterpillar they wanted to observe and follow for the next few weeks.  Every week, we'll ask the children to draw and write about the changes they have noticed in the caterpillar.  If everything goes well, the caterpillars will change into butterflies in about 4 weeks, and then we will release them back into nature on a warm day. 

We began our class inquiry about butterflies, by asking the children two questions:  What do you think you know about caterpillars and butterflies?; and What do you want to know about caterpillars and butterflies?  We recorded their answers on a chart, and then we started researching.  As we find out new information and/or confirm what we thought, we add the facts to the chart under the section: 'What we learned/confirmed about caterpillars and butterflies'. Here are some of the questions the children had about caterpillars and butterflies:  how do caterpillars grow and change?; and what do caterpillars and butterflies really eat?

In addition to observing the Painted Lady caterpillars, we are also reading lots of books, watching videos, researching on the internet, learning songs, participating in drama activities and talking to experts so we can learn more about caterpillars and butterflies.

Here are some photos of our little visitors:

May 6, 2015:  the caterpillars have arrived!  Some caterpillars are tiny and some are small.

May 11, 2015:  just 5 days later.  The caterpillars are growing quickly!

A curious caterpillar

We learned that the spikes on the caterpillar are for protection.
We counted 16 legs on the caterpillar.  Ask your child how many legs a butterfly will have.

May 15, 2015:  Some of us wanted to find out what it felt like to have a caterpillar crawl on our hands!  

Stay tuned for more updates about our caterpillars!