Attracting and Observing Life Cycles

Children don’t understand the concepts of ecology but they will learn that animals require only certain foods to survive. In this article an activity is provided that shows the interrelatio... See More

Children don’t understand the concepts of ecology but they will learn that animals require only certain foods to survive. In this article an activity is provided that shows the interrelationship between the cabbage white caterpillar and collard greens. The author provides questions to support inquiry as the plant attracts butterflies and then goes through the organism’s life cycle. Observing the world around young children helps them develop scientific skills.

Collards and Caterpillars

1. I chose this article because it gives a great activity for teaching students about ecosystems. I love life science, so ecosystem is something I find very intriguing. This article goes int... See More

1. I chose this article because it gives a great activity for teaching students about ecosystems. I love life science, so ecosystem is something I find very intriguing. This article goes into great detail and gives great higher-level thinking questions to ask students. I also think this will be fun for students because they will get to plant collards and then observe the lifecycle of a butterfly and how the collards play a role in that. 2. I learned so much new information from this article. It discusses what I think is a really fun topic. The whole idea of planting plants and observing insects is something I would have never thought of, but I really love it. Something this article really made me think about that I wouldn’t of otherwise is, always check with parents about allergy’s to plants and bugs. This is a hands-on project where the students will be touching the collards and maybe even larvae or caterpillars. So, it is so important to make sure there are no known allergies. This is obvious when we think about food, but I know I forget about the problem of people being allergic to plants for insect bites. So, this was a great reminder to always be cautious and check with parents before conducting a project like this. 3. §112.13. Science, Grade 2 (9) Organisms and environments. The student knows that living organisms have basic needs that must be met for them to survive within their environment. The student is expected to: (C) compare the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments such as through food chains. I would use this article in my classroom for teaching organisms and environment. I think the lesson that goes along with it would really be fun for the students. The class would plant collards and observe the butterflies and how they depend on the collards. This also opens up the topic of the life cycle of a butterfly. We would take the caterpillars to class and watch it over time transform into a butterfly. This activity comes with some great ideas for questions to ask students and the order you should direct the lesson. 4. Based on my experience of being a student and student teaching I would say students would love this lesson. I remember when I was young, we had caterpillars in our classroom that we watched cycle into a butterfly. I think that this lesson is a wonderful and even more in-depth adaptation of the lesson that I did. This lesson will definitely take time but will be so rewarding for the students. They will know they planted the collards that brought the butterflies who layed their larvae there. Then they will have watched the larvae become a caterpillar, and then we take the caterpillar to class and watch it grow. Overall, I think this is a great lesson.