Caterpillar/Chrysalis Update

The caterpillars got bigger and bigger this week and about half of the caterpillars are now in the chrysalis stage of the life cycle. Each chrysalis is now in our "butterfly cage" or "butterfly house" to wait for the butterflies to come out.

The students are encouraged each day to write down what they see, draw diagrams and to write questions they have about what is happening with the caterpillars. Science is all about asking questions! These questions guide our research.

Here are some of the facts the children learned this week:

* The caterpillar is an insect. The insect life cycle has four stages. For a caterpillar the stages are: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and adult (butterfly).
* The caterpillars make some red frass, attache to the top of the container and make a "J' shape, just before they change into a chrysalis.
* The pupa stage for butterflies is spelled: one chrysalis, two or more chrysalids.
* These caterpillars are the larva stage of the Painted Lady Butterfly (Latin name: Vanessa carduii).
* The chrysalis does not eat or drink.
* The chrysalis breathes using spriracles (tubes) just like the caterpillar does.
* There are gold spots on the chrysalis but scientists don't know why they are there.
* The process describing the change from caterpillar to butterfly inside the chrysalis is called "metamorphosis".

The children also wrote down in their science journals their ideas on what is happening inside the chrysalis and how it is happening.