Hello,
I am an intern at the University of Houston and soon I will be teaching my first science lesson about the butterfly life cycle. Could anyone give me some ideas for my engagement, and questions I could ask my students. Thank you!
Hi Josefina, I'm not sure which grade level you are teaching. You can search using the Explore All Resources tab in the Learning Center, or you can search ngss.nsta.org for classroom resources. I would use phenomena to engage students in the lesson by showing a video of the metamorphisis of a butterfly, map the Monarch butterfly migration, and/or bring a Milkweed plant to class to share with your students. I live in Louisiana and love to teach about Monarch butterflies because they are easily spotted in our area.
The kindergarten teachers in my school buy chrysalis and watch them break open into beautiful blue blutterflies.I can't recall the name of the butterfly. Last year we got Penta plants for them(we looked up the host plants) and they laid eggs on the leaves and we were about to watch the life cycle begin again!
When I was in elementary school we also planted milkweed outside the school to attract butterflies, and it was one of my favorite things we did. Milkweed is a relatively cheap plant to purchase and is a major food source for butterflies. When we did it we had hundreds of butterflies flying all around the playground and the outside of the school. It got us thinking about butterflies and interested in them outside of just science class and we had a sense of pride becuase it was our milkweed that had attracked them to the playground.
Being from the midwest, I have many times studied monarch butterflies! In younger grades, we did activities like drawing ourselves as butterflies, and various crafts of that sort. As we got older, we learned more in depth. When I entered middle school, we utilized one side of our school to plant milkweed and other butterfly-attracting plants! It was awesome to see butterflies outside of our window, and it also gave the younger grades a wonderful spot to see the butterflies close up. Additionally, there are many places around here that are 'butterfly gardens' where you could take a field trip and the students would really love it!
Hello fellow science teacher, I am replying you behalf of Funsciencedemos YouTube Channel that is home to hundreds of free videos for ideas for teachers and students to recreate in the classroom. Science is our passion and we are so excited to share our engaging, kid-teacher-parent friendly, and interactive lessons with you to use in the classroom or at home. Our videos adhere to the common core science standards, encompass a wide variety of science concepts, and are specifically geared toward younger learners. All videos on the FunScienceDemos channel come with an English subtitle that can be translated into almost any language, making science lessons accessible virtually any place in the world. We encourage you check it out and spread the word! We post new science videos once a month, please subscribe our channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/funsciencedemos Sincerely, The FunScienceDemos Team
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