Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Grade 3

By: Jaminah D. Benasing

Learning Objectives

Students will identify and sequence the stages of a

butterfly’s life cycle.

Students will understand that living things change and

grow over time.

Today we’re going to learn the life cycle of an insect. This insect is beautiful, its wings has vibrant colors that allow it to fly all over the flowers in the garden… guess what is it?

Life Cycle of Butterfly

Egg Stage• The egg is sticky.

• It is laid on the bottom of milkweed plant leaf.

• Hatches after a few days.

Larva or Caterpillar

• As soon as the embryo has developed into a caterpillar, it eats his way out of the egg.

Larva

• On the outside, the caterpillar mostly eats leaves and plants.• While the caterpillars pass from the egg stage to the pupal stage, they typically shed their skin and molt several times.

Pupa Stage

• The larva forms a chrysalis or pupa around its body.• The chrysalis is green with dots. Later it becomes clear.

Pupa Stage

An orange butterfly can be seen inside the chrysalis. This change is called a Metamorphosis.

Metamorphosis

• Is a process in which some

animals go through to become

adults.• It is a series of physical changes.• It is most common in insects.

Adult Butterfly Stage

• The adult butterfly comes out of the chrysalis in about two weeks.

• The wing must dry before the adult can fly.

See for yourself

• Let’s take a look at the life cycle of a butterfly with a quick metamorphosis movies. (2)

Fun Facts About Butterflies

• Butterflies taste with their feet.

• Butterflies do not have mouths.

• Butterflies need sun to fly.

Fun Facts About Butterflies

• Butterflies fly during the day.

• Butterflies can see some colors. They can see red, yellow, and green.

• Butterflies cannot fly if they are too cold. They need to be warm to fly.

Fun Facts About Butterflies

• Butterflies have their skeleton on the outside of their body. This is to protect them. It keeps the water inside of their body. This is good because they do not dry out.

• The wings of a butterfly are transparent. The wings of a butterfly have tiny scales. These give their wings color. This is why they do not look transparent to us.

Generalization

Butterflies undergo complete metamorphosis in which they go through four different life stages.

•Egg - A butterfly starts its life as an egg.

•Larva - The larva (caterpillar) hatches from an egg and eats leaves or flowers almost constantly.

Generalization

• Pupa - It turns into a pupa (chrysalis); this is a resting stage.

• Adult - A beautiful, flying adult emerges. There is no growth during this stage. This adult will continue the cycle and reproduce.

Generalization

References

• http://www.animationlibrary.com/animation/22622/Red_butterflies/

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8sAHQYvVf0• http://www.slideshare.net/jocellemacariola/lifecycle-of-

butterfly• http://www.butterflylifecycle.org/• http://www.office.com• http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/butterflies/

lifecycle/