Life Cycle of a Butterfly

This lesson plan has students using different pasta shapes to create pasta art to illustrate the life cycle of a butterfly.  Books and poems are embedded in the lesson. The purpose of this lesson is to familiarize the students with the life cycle stages of a butterfly.  The lesson begins with the reading of Eric Carle's book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  Students use different shapes pasta to illustrate the life cycle of butterfly with bow-tie pasta representing the adult butterfly.  Students are asked to write about the life cycle of a butterfly.  Assessment suggestions are included.  

Weblink address (URL): 
Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 

Objectives: 

Students will be able to:

  • Listen attentively to the book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
  • Identify the four different stages of a butterfly life cycle (from egg, caterpillar, pupa or cocoon, to a full-grown adult butterfly).
  • Compare and contrast fiction and non-fiction books about butterflies.
  • Design their own butterfly life cycle plates.
  • Explain and share the stages of a butterfly’s life.
  • Recite a poem about a butterfly life cycle by Meish Goldish.
  • Write a short story of where the adult butterfly might go after the cycle is over.

Content of Lesson:

  • Students will be made aware of things such as:
  • The first stage of the life cycle is the egg.
  • The egg is the size of a pencil point.
  • The second stage of the life cycle is the caterpillar or the larva stage.
  • When the caterpillar hatches, it eats its shell and then leaves.
  • The third stage of the life cycle is the cocoon or the pupa.
  • The pupa, at first is a light green color with gold spots and then becomes clear in color.
  • At the clear stage of the cocoon, we can begin to observe the wings of the butterfly.
  • The last stage of the life cycle is the adult butterfly.
  • Before the butterfly can fly it’s wings must be dry and strong.
  • Then the animal life cycle begins all over again.

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Understanding

Helpful Hints

Materials:

  • The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
  • A Butterfly Is Born by Melvin Berger (prior day)
  • Poem, Butterfly Life Cycles , by Meish Goldish
  • Paper plates (one per student)
  • Colored pencils (handful per table)
  • Ziploc bags (one per student)
  • Glue
  • Bright Butterflies Worksheet
  • Sequencing HW sheet
  • Various forms of pasta (prepared in Ziploc bags by the teacher)
  • pastina (egg)
  • curly colored pasta (caterpillar or larva)
  • shell pasta (cocoon or pupa)
  • bow-tie pasta (adult butterfly)

References

Contributors: 
Diane Vaughn
Originator: 
Ayers Institute for Learning & Innovation