UNIT TITLE: Butterflies in the Garden
Author: Carol Kopczynski
E-Mail Address:
cakop@aol.com
School:
Clissold Elementary School: Chicago,
IL
THEME: Butterflies
BROAD CONCEPT: Friendship and interdependence
GRADES: K-1
INTEGRATED SUBJECTS: Math, Technology, Language Arts, Science, Art
UNIT GOALS AND PURPOSE: Students will
understand the life cycle of the butterfly and demonstrate this understanding
through a variety of on-going and performance based assessments. Students
will be able to tell how plants grow and will be able to describe a
butterfly’s dependence upon plants. Students will also tell how to care
for a growing butterfly and extend this study to an understanding of friendship,
kindness, and an interdependence of living things. Assessment will be
ongoing through teacher observation of completion of the activities and
performance-based.
TIME FRAME: Minimum of 13 days (some activities may take more than one day)
OBJECTIVES:
In this lesson, students will:
MATERIALS:
_X_Desktop Publishing- (Print Artist, Microsoft
Publisher)
_X_ Brainstorming
(Inspiration, Kidspiration )
_X_Word
Processing ( MS Word)
_X_Spreadsheet
(Microsoft Excel)
_X_
Multimedia (KidPix Deluxe 3)
_X_Other
software pertaining to unit (Graph Master, Timeliner 5.0)
STATE STANDARDS ADDRESSED BY THIS UNIT:
N.C.T.M. STANDARDS ADDRESSED
BY THIS UNIT:
STUDENT ACTIVITIES WHICH
WILL PROMOTE ENGAGED LEARNING:
Opening
Activity (Activity 1):
Teacher will introduce the butterfly theme by showing children pictures
of butterflies from http://www.butterflies.com/butterflylist.htm.
Ask students to tell what these are. Create a class
KWL (What we Know, What we Want to know, What we Learned) chart by using Inspiration
software. This chart will be accessed throughout the unit to
add new knowledge, facts, and questions.
Activity
2: Teacher
will read the story Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom DeLuise. This
is a book about a caterpillar who asks several characters to play with him, but
is treated badly. After he becomes a butterfly, the same
characters now want to play with him because he is so beautiful. He
turns them down, then befriends another caterpillar. Discuss
how characters such as the monkeys treated Charlie the Caterpillar before and
after he became a butterfly. Ask the students, “Who acted
like a friend? Have you ever been treated like Charlie the
Caterpillar?” Brainstorm ways to be a friend and record
children’s answers using the Inspiration software. Teacher
will print this and post in the classroom. Students form
groups of 2 or 3 to create a Friendship poster using Print Artist
or another desktop publishing software (use parent volunteers to assist with the
project). These will be printed and displayed.
Activity
3: Introduce
life cycle of the butterfly. Children view Web presentation
from the Monarch Butterfly Thematic Resource Unit (http://www.midgefrazel.net/monarchtheme.html).
Use a multimedia projector for this. Students will cut
out pictures depicting the butterfly’s life cycle and place in order
sequentially. Students will use Kid Pix Deluxe 3
to create 4 slides depicting the life cycle of the butterfly using the drawing
tools. Students will save these slides to be used later as
well as print the pictures for placement in their portfolio and further
sequencing practice.
Activity
4: Teacher
will introduce live caterpillars in the classroom (ordered from Insectlore.com).
Students will estimate the number of days it will take until the
caterpillars change into butterflies. Using Microsoft
Excel, class will create a graph of students’ estimates by coloring a
box next to each estimate a student gives. The teacher will
use unifix cubes and add one each day before the caterpillars emerge.
Activity
5: Teacher
will review the story Charlie the Caterpillar by Dom DeLuise as well as
the Friendship posters students created. Distinguish fantasy
(as depicted in the story) from reality. Ask, “How can we
be friends to the classroom caterpillars?” Students should
realize that they should not tap on the container or shake it. Ask
students to use magnifying glasses to observe the caterpillars without
disturbing them. Ask parent volunteers or older students to
help students create an electronic journal using Microsoft Word.
Students should use the drawing tool to draw the estimated length and
width of a caterpillar. Students will dictate what they
observe the caterpillars doing. The journals will be saved
and will be used to record caterpillar observations throughout the unit.
Activity
6: Teacher
will read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. Discuss
what the caterpillar ate and compare to the caterpillars in the classroom.
Create a class graph of each student’s favorite food the caterpillar
ate using Graph Master software. Teacher will
re-format the graph so students can view and compare results in different ways (ie-bar
graph, pie chart). Students will use the stamp tools in Kid
Pix Deluxe 3 to create a page for a class book entitled “The Very
Hungry Kindergartner (or First Grader)”. Each page will
follow the format: “Sean ate 3 apples” (change
name and food for each child’s picture) using a text box and correct amount of
stamps. The pages will be printed, stapled and added to the
reading center.
Activity
7: Students
will go on a butterfly watch. Take a walk around the school
ground and look for butterflies. Students should note where
they spot a butterfly. Teacher will take a picture of the
butterflies spied with a digital camera. In the classroom,
teacher will download the pictures into Microsoft Publisher and
students will dictate text to tell what they observed. Print
the pictures, staple, and add to the reading center.
Activity
8: Teacher
will read Discovering Butterflies by Douglas Florian and Where
Butterflies Grow by Joanne Ryder. Discuss what
butterflies eat (nectar from flowers). Students will use the Butterflies.com
website to choose and print a picture of a butterfly and plants that are
appropriate hosts and nectar plants for that butterfly. Teacher
will use Inspiration software to record the plants children find.
Teacher will buy seeds from the different plants recorded.
Activity
9: Teacher
will review the list of host and nectar plants children compiled in Activity 7.
Students will work in groups planting containers of seeds for a butterfly
garden (materials needed: seed packets, soil, plastic
recycled berry container, water). Using Graph Master
software, teacher will record the number of seed packets of each type of plant
that will be printed and displayed near the containers. When
the plants have sprouted, re-plant them near the school grounds.
Activity
10:
Teacher will read the book Diary of a Monarch Butterfly by Susan
L. Thompson. Ask students to look at the Monarch butterfly
and describe what they see. Compare the left and right side
of the butterfly. Discuss ‘symmetry’ with the students.
Ask them to give other examples of symmetry. Students
will access the Enchanted
Learning: All About Butterflies website
to find and print a picture of a butterfly. Students will
color their butterflies, keeping in mind they have symmetry. Pictures
will be collected for their portfolios.
Activity
11:
Teacher will show children the book Butterfly and
Moth-Eyewitness Books by Paul Whalley. Discuss what is a
moth and what is a butterfly. Children research the
differences by accessing the Butterflies
and Moths site and the Butterflies
vs. Moths site. Using Kidspiration
software, students will work in small groups (2-3 students) to create a Venn
diagram comparing and contrasting moths and butterflies.
Activity
12:
Teacher will read From Egg to Butterfly by Marlene Reidel. Review
the life cycle of the butterfly. By now, the butterflies
should have spun a chrysalis and/or emerged as a butterfly. Using
the Timeliner 5.0 software, students will create a timeline of the
butterfly’s life cycle using information from books we’ve read and the
electronic journals students have kept. Print the timeline
for display.
Activity
13 (Culminating activities):
When the caterpillars have emerged and the weather is at a constant above
55 degrees, plan a butterfly releasing party. Discuss where
the best place to release the butterflies would be. Plan a
field trip to a local park or garden that is appropriate for the butterflies.
Next year, there should be an on-site garden from the plants grown during
this unit! Students will then create a slide show in Kid
Pix Deluxe 3 using the life cycle slides created in Activity 3.
Students should create a title slide as well as a slide depicting a
habitat for butterflies.
SHARE YOUR IDEAS:
As activities are
completed (graphs, timeline, butterfly pictures), these should be posted in the
hallway outside the classroom. Samples from the electronic
journals could be printed and published in the school newspaper or the local
newspaper. Students will share the items in their portfolios
with their families upon completion of the unit. Students can
invite another classroom or classrooms to view the slideshows the class created.
Rubric for final Kid Pix slide show project:
| Slideshow has a title slide | 20 points |
| Four slides depicting the life cycle of the butterfly are in sequential order | 30 points |
| Minimum of 5 slides in the show | 20 points |
| Final slide depicts an appropriate butterfly habitat | 30 points |
| Total: | 100 points |
STUDENT AND TEACHER ROLES:
The teacher will act as a
facilitator and guide throughout the unit. The teacher will
acquire background knowledge in the subject of butterflies and gather necessary
materials and resources to aid students’ learning. The
teacher will answer students’ questions and help to re-direct them to discover
answers themselves, as appropriate. The teacher will also
collaborate with colleagues in order to gather additional ideas and resources.
Students will be active participants in the learning activities
throughout the unit. Students will be expected to work
together with each other and with the teacher as well as parent volunteers to
complete the activities. Students will be encouraged to
extend their learning by utilizing web resources contained in the descriptions.
Knowing that students retain the highest amount of information when they
teach others, students will be responsible for disseminating new knowledge to
others through completion of activities and the culminating activities.
THE FOLLOWING BOOKS
CONTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THIS TOPIC:
RELEVANT INFORMATION, STUDENTS WILL VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEB SITES: