International Travelers- Monarch Butterflies

Have you ever wondered about the tiny eggs on leaves in the spring and fall?  What mysteries do they hold?  Do you wonder how they know which way to go when they travel south for the winter?  Why do they go to Mexico and how long does it take these tiny creatures to get there.   Our second grade reporters took time out of their busy day to tell me some things they have learned about these International Travelers.   They have been busy observing, reading and writing in their science notebook about the life cycle of these tiny little eggs that become beautiful International Travelers each year.

Mrs. McNeill- Pedro

Day  One—- My caterpillar needs food, water and air.  Caterpillars eat mallow.  My caterpillar’s names are Sharky and Fast.

Day Three—I think my caterpillar is eating a lot.  I noticed they are eating a lot.

Day Four—My caterpillars are eating mallow and they are fat.  I predict they will be bigger. Butterflies can be camouflaged.  Butterflies can protect themselves.

Day Six— I think it is going to make his J.  I predict it is going to make the chrysalis.  I noticed it is almost going to make a chrysalis.  I think it is cool.  I predict it is really big.

All insects have three body parts-  abdomen, thorax, and head.  They can smell and hear.  All insects have 6 legs.  Spiders have two body parts and eight legs.  Butterflies can lay 100’s of eggs on one leaf.  It drinks more nectar.

Mrs. Harlow- Jasmine and Chance

The caterpillar sheds its skin 5 times before it goes into a chrysalis.  They have a back antenna.  They have front antennae.  When the caterpillar eats it gets bigger.  It takes 2 weeks until they go into their chrysalis.  When the butterfly comes out of the chrysalis their wings are wet.  It takes 10-75 days before they hatch out from their egg.  They can make silk with their legs.  They make a J shape when they start making their chrysalis.  They start out as larvae and eat and grow into adult butterflies.  They are black, orange and grey.  Monarch Butterfly can fly as high as a skyscraper.  Some butterflies can be as small as a small button.  And some can be as big as a black bird.  They are going outside to travel the world.

Mrs. Fincher- Reagan and Avery

Butterflies can lay more than 2000 eggs.  Caterpillars don’t spin a cocoon that’s a moth so caterpillars make a chrysalis instead.  Some caterpillars don’t survive because ants eat their eggs.   Butterflies have sensitive wings because if they break they can’t fly.  When they go into a J shape that means they are forming a chrysalis.  Some butterflies have bright colors to show they are poisonous.  When the caterpillars are in the chrysalis they go through metamorphosis.  That means they can turn into a butterfly and some have different metamorphosis.

Ms. Dunleavy- Camila and Kayla

It starts really little then a little bigger then a little larger, it gets much larger, and then when it is in its J shape it gets smaller and curled up.  A butterfly lays eggs on a leaf and it will hatch in 5 days then it will eat its entire eggshell because it’s very hungry.  The life cycle is eggs, larvae, caterpillar, J shape, pupa, and butterfly.  It sheds its skin and grows a bigger one sometimes darker sometimes lighter.   Butterfly eggs are really small you can barely see them.  When it is a pupa they grow wings.  Butterfly wings are very wet when it emerges and wings are really fragile.  Some butterflies have different patterns.  When the butterfly wings are closed you can’t see what color it will be.  If their wings are broken some still will try to fly.  We are going to let them go in the butterfly garden when they are ready.  In reading we learned that some butterflies fly all the way across the ocean.  Monarch butterflies go to Mexico in the forest because it’s safe there.

Mr. Pascarella-Jasmine P. and Avery C.

My caterpillar has turned into a pupa and is about to turn into a butterfly.  I learned moth spin cocoons and caterpillar’s spin chrysalis.  The caterpillars start small and grow bigger and bigger because they make a butterfly at the end.  Butterflies and moths can be colorful and some moths are tricky because they are really colorful.  They can spin a web in the little containers on the top and around it.  Butterflies have different life cycles than moths.  Ants eat the eggs sometimes.  Caterpillars need quiet and to be safe.    So after we release them in the garden they can lay more eggs and the life cycle will start all over again.

Mrs. Zarger- Ethan and Jasmine T.

When the caterpillar turns into a chrysalis is has a silver button that it hangs from.   It starts as a tiny egg and turns into a caterpillar (tiny, tiny) and then it starts eating and grows bigger.  It hangs upside down as a chrysalis and when it starts moving it’s about to become a beautiful butterfly.  Some butterflies are camouflaged like the trees or the ground.   When it starts to get cold and winter they go to a warmer place.   Monarch butterflies might fly to Mexico where it’s warmer.   They go to the forest.  They have antenna to find their food and drink from flowers to get nectar.   They are different colors and patterns on the adult butterfly.  They can fly 3000 miles from places like Canada and the USA.

Mrs. Lukjanczuk-  Cici and Andy

Caterpillars start in egg and then turn into caterpillar then into a chrysalis and hatch into a butterfly.  The biggest butterfly is as big as a black bird.  The smallest is as small as a little button or about the size of a pencil top eraser.  Caterpillars eat leaves.  Monarch butterflies fly as high as a skyscraper.  Monarch butterflies are poisonous.   A mama butterfly lays the eggs on a leaf and they might get eaten by ants.  Some fly over the ocean.  So they use the wind to help them fly so they can rest their wings.  They might land on a boat.  The butterflies might scare little animals because some have what looks like eyes on their wings.  They fly really fast if you try to catch them.  You have to be gentle with them and not rub their wings.

Frogs and other animals eat moths and butterflies.