Monarch Butterflies

I am sure you have heard about all the excitement in 1/2 Y the past few weeks! I have throughly enjoyed this unit and I think the kids have as well! :) We came across a few challenges trying to raise the monarchs in the warmer weather... it lead to some teachable moments! 

We have been amazed to see the lifecycle of the monarch take place right before our very eyes. We have seen our caterpillars getting bigger by the day by munching on milkweed. Once they are ready to turn into a butterfly they hang into a j shape as they prepare to make their chrysalis. Although both transformed over night we have had the opportunity to see some time lapse videos of what it would look like. Each day we have arrived, we were eager to check out our butterfly habitat to see if there were any changes overnight. We learned that when the Monarch is ready to emerge their chrysalis goes from green to black and then becomes translucent. This stage takes about 10-14 days before the butterfly is ready to hatch. Unfortunately our butterfly friends decided to spring into action while we were out of the room- both times! We said "adios" as they flew off on their long journey to Mexico. Did you know that butterflies migrate about 3,000 miles each fall to a warmer climate for winter?!? Amazing! We will wrap up our lifecycle unit by focusing a bit on insects as well! Here are some of our beautiful Monarch creations- enjoy!