Let's Fly Away!

You’re trapped!  You feel the walls surrounding you!  You’re ready to be free!  But, you feel a little fear.  You have been safely wrapped up in your Chrysalis all this time and now you know it’s time to break out.  You feel different.  You don’t feel that same wiggly, green body.  What happened to you?  You start thinking about your life that you know so far… you were an egg, a caterpillar (larva), and now a Chrysalis.  As you emerge from your shell, your beautiful, bright colored wings pop out.  You say “Wow, this is cool” and want to get away… you want to fly away!  

The Task

Pretend you are this beautiful butterfly emerging from its Chrysalis.  What type of butterfly species are you?  Where did you come from?  How did you turn into this amazing creature?  What is your life like now?  What are your favorite flowers?

1. Choose the type of butterfly your team wants to research.

2. Research the butterfly species, the life cycle, the regions it can be found in, and its favorite caterpillar and butterfly flowers.

3. Include a paper explaining the importance of butterflies to our environment and a
plan on how we can help increase their population.

4. Create your butterfly project using one of the following methods to display your information:

• A Web Page
• Poster
• Slide Show (Powerpoint)

Resources

Welcome to The Butterfly Farm

Zoom Butterflies

Monarchs & Migration

Children's Butterfly Site

BUTTERFLIES AND THEIR LARVAL FOODPLANTS

Butterflies of North America
Butterfly Gardens
Butterfly Zone

The Process

1. You will need to pick a partner and work as a team.

2. Brainstorm together to find out what you already know about butterflies.

3. Print out a worksheet to guide you through your butterfly research.

4. Start your research at one of the web sites listed in Resources or use a resource from the library.

5. Decide how you want to present your information.  Click on the following examples and descriptions:

• Web Page
• Slide Show (Powerpoint)
• Poster Poster (example similar to the Web Page)

 

6. Choose the butterfly species you want to research.  Include its Common name and its Latin name.  Write a paragraph giving a description of your butterfly.

7. Locate the region or common range your butterfly is generally found in.  Include a map showing where your butterfly can be found.

8. Gather information on the butterfly lifecycle.  Include photographs and/or drawings.

9. Research the favorite caterpillar plants and butterfly plants your butterfly is attracted to.  Include photographs and/or drawings.

10. Include one interesting or unique fact about your butterfly or butterflies in general.

11. Include a paper explaining the importance of butterflies to our environment and a plan on how we can help increase their population.

12. Site your graphic sources.  What web site did your photographs or graphics come from?

Evaluation

You and your partner must finish all tasks and present your project to the class.  You will be graded based on the following rubric:  Scoring Rubric
 
 

 

Conclusion

WOW!  You did it!  You now know what amazing creatures butterflies are and have an understanding of how important they are to our environment.  Your work is done, but your investigation is just beginning!  Here are some “buggy” links to try out and learn more about butterflies and their relatives.  You may be inspired to go home and create a butterfly garden in your backyard!

Go Buggy
Insects
Insect Information
Create a Butterfly Garden

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