Life Cycle of a Butterfly

In third grade, students study many different kinds of life cycles. During this lesson, we will be focusing on the life cycle of a butterfly.

The teacher will need to order caterpillars for each group of students. The caterpillars, which will be stored in the butterfly habitats, can be photographed by students.

Students will continue to take photographs each day to document any change in the pupas. Each day, the photographs can then be downloaded to a computer program that allows the students to make a book using the digital pictures. Each day they would document any changes that occur.

Once the butterflies have hatched, the class would have a celebration day, in which we would release the butterflies. This day will also be photographed by the students.

After the books are finished, the students can read the books to a kindergarten class. This will promote pride and ownership of their work. The books can be assessed on the use of proper vocabulary, and documentation of the life cycle of the butterfly.