Mrs. Chapdelaine Says...

Just to let everyone know, sometimes the caterpillars change a great deal in a few days and sometimes there isn't much change from day to day. Each habitat is a little different and like us, caterpillars grow at different paces. Keep checking back, comment if you'd like and get ready for lots of changes to come!

Day 5 by Laura and Stephen

Laura said...The caterpillar is growing some more and eating some more. She sees silk on the side of the habitat.
Stephen says... In the caterpillar habitat I saw more frass, more silk and less mallow.

Laura wonders why the caterpillar is eating so much.
Stephens question is why is the caterpillar half on the wall and half on the silk?

Day 4 by Rylie and Nicholas

Nicholas says...Today I learned that the caterpillar is a runt. A runt is a kind of caterpillar that is small and may have a shorter life than the other caterpillars. The caterpillar is not eating a lot. The caterpillar did not molt yet. We tried to help the runt by giving it a little extra water in it's habitat.
Rylie says...The caterpillar finally has frass in it's habitat. The caterpillar's habitat has silk in in today. The silk has some food stuck to it. The caterpillar is bigger and has bigger bristles today.
Nicholas's question is why is the caterpillar shrinking?
Rylie's wonders why the caterpillar is bigger than yesterday?

Day 3 by Jessica and Christopher

Jessica says....In my observations in the habitat, I saw one head capsule. A head capsule is part of the exoskeleton. The exoskeleton of the caterpillar is the hard shell like covering that gets too small for the caterpillar's body. The exoskeleton is shed and the caterpillar eats the body part because it is protein for the caterpillar. It does not eat the head capsule because it is too hard. This is called a molt and it can happen 4 or 5 times.
Christopher says...Did you know that true legs are the legs that are in the front of the caterpillar? True legs are the legs that grabs the food. Prolegs are the legs in the back of the caterpillar. Prolegs are velco-like on the bottom of the caterpillar's legs. The bottom of the prolegs are like suction cups that help the caterpillar climb and hold on to almost any kind of surface.

Jessica's question is why did the caterpillar stay on the habitat's wall for two days?

Christopher question is why is the caterpillar staying in one place but yesterday it was moving all over the habitat?

Day 2 By Jenna and Travis

Today there is more caterpillar movement. Jenna said it was like the caterpillar was dancing. There is a lot of FRASS in the habitat. Travis said there wasn't any frass yesterday. They both want you to know that frass is poop. If the caterpillar eats a lot there will be a lot of frass. We saw some BRISTLES on the caterpillar's body. Bristles are firm hair like objects on the back and sides of a caterpillar. The bristles help to protect the caterpillar from it's prey. Common peditors of a caterpillar is birds, and spiders and snakes.
Jenna wonders how big the caterpillar will get?
Travis wonders what kind of caterpillar it is?

Day 1 Observation

Today the caterpillars arrived. We touched and smelled the mallow. The mallow is a plant that the caterpillar eats in nature. The mallow felt cold and mushy. The mallow smelled like _________ (everyone thounght it smelled different. Ask your son or daughter what they thought it smelled like). The caterpillar measured about 1 centimeter (1 cm). I picked a large caterpillar, put it in the habitat and it was taped to my desk.

Welcome to our butterfly blog!

Welcome to the Life Cycle of the Butterfly blog, created by
Mrs. Chapdelaine's 2010 second grade class. Last year's blog was so
successful that we've brought it back for round 2!

This blog is created so that the children will be able to share their learning of the amazing 4 stages that the butterfly goes through. Each day two children will work together with me to share their learning with the blog readers. They'll be able to tell with their writing, share a picture or drawing and like all scientists, they'll be able to post their questions and wonders for the world to see.

We have a few rules to follow to keep this blog running smoothly.
We must follow the second grade writing process, everything should be double checked for correct spelling and learning.

Please, please, please participate in this blog on a regular basis, ask us questions, comment on the knowledge the children post and talk to your children everyday about this wondrous event.

Have fun and learn with us!!!