Life Cycles-Butterflies

• LessonUp
• Middelbare school
• mavo
• Leerjaar 1

Icebreaker:

What do you call an insect that's running out of gas? 

A sputter-by butterfly!

Let's Study Life Cycles Using Butterflies!

There are 4 stages in a butterfly life cycle.

1. Egg

2. Caterpillar

(larva)

3. Chrysalis (pupa)

4. Butterfly

Stage 1: Egg

• Butterfly Eggs come in many different shapes.
  
• Most mother butterflies lay between 100-500 eggs.
• They are usually laid on either leaves or branches and take about 4 days to hatch.

What are Stages? 

Stages are the steps of how something grows. 

Stage 2. Caterpillar (Larva) 

• The caterpillar bites a hole in its egg and crawls out.
  
•  It eats many leaves and keeps growing bigger. 
• As it does, it sheds its skin like a snake 4-5 times.
•  This stage usually lasts 7-10 days.

This is a Monarch Caterpillar.

Stage 3. Chrysalis (pupa)

• The caterpillars form a chrysalis (a type of hard shell) by hanging upside down and shedding their skin one last time. Inside, they are changing very quickly. 
• This stage will last 10-14 days.
•  Butterflies go through a complete metamorphosis (major changes to their body in 4 stages.)

What is Metamorphosis?

Metamorphosis is a big word that simply means: "A big change to their body form that some animals and insects go through during their life cycles."

Stage 4. Butterfly

•  The chrysalis splits open and a wet, crumpled-looking butterfly comes out after 10-14 days. 
• The wings dry out and get harder as their blood pumps through them and soon they fly away.
•  They fly and drink plenty of nectar (sugary fluid found in flowers) from a tube on their head.

Monarch Butterflies will only lay their eggs on a milkweed plant. Their larvae can only eat milkweed.  

They fly  2,500-3,000 miles to migrate to Mexico! This is to avoid the cold winter weather. 

Life Cycles Surprise!

• A life cycle is the stages of life from the beginning to the end of life. 
  
• All living things have a life cycle. This includes humans, plants, and animals.
•  Not every life cycle has 4 stages. 
• We are going to study butterfly life cycles in class by raising caterpillars, studying their life cycle changes  each day, and recording our observations through pictures. 

Let's get some practice!

How many stages are in a butterfly's life cycle?

1. 3. Egg, Larva, Butterfly.
2. 4. Egg, Caterpillar, Chrysalis, and Butterfly.
3. 2. Caterpillar, Adult.
4. It's all one stage.

Egg

Caterpillar

Chrysilas

Butterfly

Which stage of the life cycle does a caterpillar change into a chrysalis?

Learning Outcomes:

•  Explain the stages of a butterfly's life cycle.
• Give a simple explanation of metamorphosis.
•  Know that every living thing has a life cycle. 

Do you think you understand the life cycle of a butterfly?

😒🙁😐🙂😃