First graders learned about the life cycle of the butterfly. Each first grade class got 5 caterpillars. Mrs. DiPietro’s class watched them eat and grow over the next 7-10 days. They grew a lot. When they were ready, they crawled to the top of the cup, hung in a “J” shape and formed a chrysalis. We were lucky enough to catch one in the process of forming it’s chrysalis just after we arrived at school one morning. It happens pretty fast and Zach had fortunately caught it happening and alerted the class so we all huddled around and watched the amazing transformation. We transfered them to their “butterfly habitat” and waited for about 10 more days for them to emerge from their chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly. We could tell they were getting ready because the chrysalis became more transparent and we could start to see the wings inside the chrysalis. Finally the day arrived and the painted lady butterflies emerged from their chrysalis. We fed them orange slices from which they drank the sweet juice. We had a lot of fun observing these beautiful little creatures that had joined our class. After about 5 more days, it was time to set them free. We took them outside and sat in a circle. One by one, Mrs. DiPietro would get a butterfly on her finger and was able pass the butterfly from her finger to a student’s finger. As the students sat in a circle on the grass, each and every child had the opportunity to hold a butterfly on the tip of their finger at some point. The children were delighted when some of the butterflies even landed on some of the children and stayed for a bit before flying off. It was hard to let them go but we knew they needed to be free so they could lay more eggs and start the cycle again. We sure enjoyed watching the metamorphosis take place and it was a fun learning experience.
