THE LIFECYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY MS. STEIN SECOND GRADE

2ND GRADE STATE STANDARDS  SCIENCE ( Life Sciences )  b. Students know the sequential stages of life cycles are different for different animals, such as butterflies, frogs, and mice.

EGG STAGE  The tiny eggs reveal a variety of shapes under a microscope - they are laid by the female on a plant, and then are abandoned by the mother.  Around 5 days later, a tiny wormlike creature will hatch.

CATERPILLAR STAGE  The newly emerged caterpillar has biting jaws, six real legs plus a number of extra 'prolegs' but no compound eye.  It gets to work quickly devouring its food source and shedding its skin in order to grow. The skin is then falls off to reveal the chrysalis or pupa.  Some caterpillars spin a cocoon first but most just fasten themselves to a plant with a silken thread.

PUPA STAGE  Although the pupa outwardly looks like it is at a state of rest, inside it is a bubbling with activity as the caterpillar is literally liquefied, then reassembled, over about two to three weeks, into a very different creature.  Some species hibernate in this state, although the transforming chemistry is suspended for most of the winter period in this case.

BUTTERFLY STAGE  The first evidence of the butterfly being ready to emerge is the translucency of the pupa skin showing the coloring of the wings beneath.  When the skin of the pupa splits, the limp, damp butterfly crawls out - now with compound eyes, six legs, and proboscis for feeding.  A little warming in the sun and its damp wings are ready to fly off to feed and mate.

LIFE CYCLE OF A BUTTERFLY Step 1: An adult butterfly lays an egg on a leaf. Step 2: The egg hatches into a caterpillar. Step 3: The caterpillar forms the chrysalis or pupa. Step 4: The chrysalis matures into a butterfly.

CAN YOU FILL IN THE STAGES? adult - the winged adult which will mate and reproduce. Adults do not eat, they only sip liquids through a straw-like proboscis. larva - (also called the caterpillar) this stage hatches from the egg. The larva spends its time eating, growing and molting (shedding its outgrown exoskeleton). pupa - the stage in a butterfly's life when it is encased in a chrysalis and undergoes metamorphosis into the adult, winged form. egg - the tiny orb laid by a female butterfly. Eggs are usually laid on the underside of leaves - they hatch into larvae.