Our Science Project- Caterpillars to Butterflies

We have been learning about how caterpillars turn into butterflies by observation. We ordered live caterpillars and they arrived two weeks ago. Everyday we watched the caterpillars eat their food, grow larger and then crawl up to the top of their container and build their chrysalis. We learned new vocabulary words- caterpillar waste is called "frass" and a butterfly comes from a chrysalis, a moth comes from a cocoon. Our butterflies were called "Painted Ladies" and are a type of butterfly found all over the U.S.

Today, we released the butterflies outside. The kids were excited and sad to see them go. I explained that we needed to let them go so they could go find lots of flowers and food. I also promised we could do this project again.

The caterpillar container- a sterile environment, complete with food. Once the caterpillars crawl to the top and form a chrysalis they are transfered into the butterfly habitat to emerge.


In butterfly habitat, we fed them fresh cut oranges and sugar water.
Looking at the empty chrysalis.

Releasing the butterflies outside.