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Butterfly Development Inquiry
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We received our pupa! Here is a photo of our first day with our Painted Lady Butterfly larvae! They are a few days old by now so within the next few days should start to form their chrysalis. Here is our Day 1. I will take a photo daily so we can observe how much they grow each day until they emerge as butterflies! Here is a link with some really interesting facts about caterpillars!!
https://www.thoughtco.com/fascinating-facts-about-caterpillars-1968169
https://www.thoughtco.com/fascinating-facts-about-caterpillars-1968169
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/1/3/131365935/editor/2-frass.jpg?1591380723)
We observed on Day 2 that some of the caterpillars were moulting! We learned caterpillars have 5 “instars” which means they shed their skin (or moult) 5 times before they form their chrysalis. We noticed that the caterpillars ate their shed skin! We also notice some of the containers looks like there is fine webbing
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On day 3, the caterpillars got names - Billy, Jimmy, Perry (now Carl), Christopher, Little Guy and Baby Guy
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/1/3/131365935/editor/4-day6.jpg?1591380854)
Along with noticing how big they are getting, we also notice that the caterpillars are pushing the food down to the bottom of the containers and it looks “grainy”. Hunter described it as looking like rice! We notice all of the caterpillars have fine webbing in their containers. In the wild, they do this to keep them moist and to help them stick to the leaf upon which they will form their chrysalis
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/1/3/131365935/editor/469499090.jpg?1591380908)
Exciting day for the caterpillars! We noticed that Christopher Caterpillar has attached himself to the top of the lid and has formed a J shape, indicating he is forming his chrysalis! We also noticed some red in his food. Upon research, we learned this is from the caterpillars last moulting! Billy also has some red in his food so he should attach himself to the top soon, if all goes according to plan!
![Picture](/uploads/1/3/1/3/131365935/published/screen-shot-2020-07-05-at-11-19-04-am.png?250)
As of the morning of Thurs 04 Jun, 1 of the caterpillars (Christopher) formed his chrysalis! By Friday afternoon, 4 are in their chrysalises, 1 is in J formation and on its way and Baby Guy, the smallest of all, should be in J formation soon. We learned that, when you see red frass balls, it indicates they’ve completed their final stage of moulting and will soon form their chrysalis! By the end of the weekend, they will be carefully moved to their butterfly cage to complete the process. Sometimes, we can see the chrysalises shake back and forth. They do this to ward of predators!
Exciting day! After waiting for 9 days after “Billy” formed his chrysalis, we woke up to our first painted lady butterfly! A chrysalis darkens in colour then becomes translucent, which signals the butterfly will start to emerge. Hopefully we will catch the whole process with one of the others! We made a solution of sugar water and put it in a small container with a sponge at the bottom of the habitat. Butterflies like sweet food/nectar. The red fluid you see on the mesh wall is not blood - it’s meconium. Meconium is a metabolic waste product meaning it’s the earliest stool of a mammal. The process of a caterpillar changing from caterpillar to butterfly is called metamorphosis. The transformation of a tadpole to a frog and a maggot to a fly are other examples of metamorphosis.
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![Picture](/uploads/1/3/1/3/131365935/published/screen-shot-2020-07-05-at-11-13-58-am.png?250)
This week, we released all 6 of our butterflies! They all flew far and away for great adventures! The life span of a painted lady butterfly has a 2 week life span. In that time, the females may lay eggs so that more caterpillars will be born, make chrysalises and emerge as butterflies. This was a fun experience and we are happy we could share it with you. 😊
Dinosaur Toothpaste
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dinosaur_toothpaste_experiment_.pdf | |
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Plants
Since many of you are planting things and finding bugs, here are some resources you can use to learn more.
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plants_-_it_starts_with_a_seed.pdf | |
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the_dirt_on_soil.pdf | |
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interesting_insects.pdf | |
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This file let's you document your experiment with predicting.
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my_magic_egg_page_1.pdf | |
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![Picture](/uploads/1/3/1/3/131365935/plants-update-1.jpg?250)
I think Garlic and Carrot are having a race. Romaine and Celery are really slow and Beet and Green Onion are coming along.