DAYS 3-10: Continued Observations of the Larval Stage (5 min/day)
1. Encourage students to make careful observations of their caterpillars over the next several days. Likely there will be no major changes in appearance, besides rapid growth. Make sure that the students make careful observations of the caterpillar behavior -- the way it moves, how it eats, how it interacts with its container-mate. They may be able to observe the larvae shedding their exoskeleton. The larvae will go through several growth stages, or "instars," before they pupate. The exoskeleton will appear as a small black clump at the bottom of the container.
2. While students are busy recording observations in their journals, you can fill them in on some missing links:
The larvae are busy munching on yellow mush at the bottom of their containers. What would you suppose they would eat in their normal environment?
Do you think the larvae would behave differently in their normal environment? Why or why not?
What could be a function of the caterpillar spines, or hairs?
This is an excellent opportunity to talk about the characteristics of insects ... but don't give too much away about butterfly life cycles. Since we had just finished a unit on classification, I prompted my students to help me write out the nomenclature for the Order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). Kingdom Animalia, Phylum Arthropoda, Class Insecta, Order Lepidoptera. We reviewed the features of each group. Don't give away anything else! That is their challenge -- to name the species. At the end of the project, they filled in the missing levels: Family, Genus, and Species.
3. If the students have not yet had the chance to practice using the time-lapse feature on the digital microscope, make sure they do during this time period. Sample exercises to acquaint them with the microscope functions are provided under the "Technology" page. In addition, students should take some pictures of their growing larvae using the digital camera.
Soon your students will be able to capture an incredible transformation...
THE BUTTERFLY PROJECT
RESEARCH TIMELINE