Day 21

•  We are going to let the butterflies go today. It will be sad. We wont let the ones still in their cocoons go though. -Paytin
• The cocoons hatched into 17 butterflies. They are pretty. -Alex
• Most of the butterflies have hatched. -Ryan S.
• Some of the butterflies have colors. They are orange, white, and black. -David
• Today some of the butterflies learned to fly. -Elin
• Three of them hatched today while we were at school. When they come out of the cocoon, they look like bumblebees because their wings are folded and they are tiny. -Kyra
• There are 22 butterflies. -Alexander 
• It is hard to count the butterflies because they keep flying around! -Miss Kolod
• Through the cocoons you can see its wings. -Matthew S.
• We also saw the red liquid come out of the cocoons. We think it is the dye of their wings. -Elin

Day 20

 On this Monday morning we came to school and had one big surprise!

• Three of the pupas hatched into little butterflies. -Kady
• Today three butterflies hatched out of their cocoons. -Elin
• I saw one of the cocoons hatch. -Paytin
• One cocoon is black. -Matthew S.
• Maybe the one that is black may hatch any second. -Albert
• There were two cocoons shaking. -Kyra
• The butterfly's wings have to dry before they can fly.
• Today three cocoons hatched. The butterflies are pretty. -Alex
• The cocoons hatched over the weekend. -Isabel
• The third one has crooked wings because it just hatched and the wings have to dry. -Juny and Elin

While we were writing our post, another butterfly started to hatch! We got to watch some of it, and then when we came back from gym, ANOTHER hatched!

• After we came back from gym, one of them surprise hatched. -Ryan S.
• The ones in the cocoons are almost ready to hatch. -Emma
• There are 5 butterflies that hatched. -Kyra
• One of the butterflies was climbing up the side of the pavilion and it fell down. Then one of the wings got stuck under a lid, but it finally got back up. -Paytin
• There is red stuff coming out of the cocoon from their wings. -Kayleigh

Day 17

•  There are spikes on the cocoons. The spikes are gold. They are ready to become butterflies. -Albert
• Today one of the cocoons was shaking! -Elin
• Today we saw the cocoon is golden. -Alex
• They are shiny. -Isabel
• The butterfly pavilion they are in is bigger than I expected. -Ryan M.
• You can see part of the wing through the cocoon. -Juny
• One of the pupas was wiggling. -Kayleigh
• I think that the cocoon that was shaking is ready to become a butterfly. -Matthew S.
• Today is the second day in the butterfly pavilion. I think it is a few more days until the one that was shaking will come out. -Paytin
• We can see the little spikes pop out. -Alexander

Questions we have:

• Do the butterflies have food inside the chrysalis? -Juny
• Why was the cocoon shaking? Casey
• Why are the cocoons hard? -Kayleigh
• If the web is sticky how does it become hard? -Albert
• How do they turn into butterflies? -Keira
• How much do they eat in their lifetime? -Paytin
• If the caterpillar is in the cocoon, it will be sleeping, and when it wakes up, the energy it used to grow and change will be gone and it wont have food in the chrysalis, so how do they push the hard shell off? -Albert
• What happens after they turn into a butterfly? -Ryan S. 
• How can the butterfly's feet be strong, but are so small? -Elin

Day 16

 Yesterday after school Miss Kolod moved the chrysalises from the cups into the butterfly pavilion.

• They aren't in their containers anymore. -Isabel
• They look like little green beans. -Paytin
• Today I saw a little bit of the wings inside the cocoons. -Mark
• They are almost done growing in their cocoons. It looks gold on the outside of the cocoon. -Ryan S.
• Maybe in 5 more days we will let them go! -Kyra
• The cocoons are different colors, like green and yellow. -Emma
• The cocoons are kind of shiny. -Keira
• They can't make webs anymore. -Matthew S.
• Miss Kolod put the cocoons in a thing. I can see the wings. The cocoons are laying on their lids. -Albert
• There are spikes on the cocoons and they are gold. -Anthony

Day 15

• The color of the chrysalis is gray. -Isabel
• There is some red on the food. -Anthony
• All of the caterpillars are in cocoons and I can see the wings inside the cocoon. -Albert
• I see all of the caterpillars in cocoons. -Paytin
• The caterpillars are almost going to hatch out of their cocoons. -Ryan S.
• Some of the webs are gone. -Matthew S.
• One of our cocoons fell down, but they will still turn into butterflies. -Elin

Day 14

 After a long Memorial Day weekend, there was a big change to the caterpillars!

• All of the caterpillars except for two are in their cocoons! -Albert
• I can see one of the wings inside the cocoon. -Elin
• One of the cocoons at our table fell down. -Kayleigh
• The outside of the cocoon kind of looks like a fish because the skin is different colors. -Gabi
• There are some spikes on the cocoon. -Courtney
• The cocoon is kind of a gray color. -Keira

Day 10

 Today we had a great surprise!

• We saw that one of the caterpillars is now in a cocoon. I can see one starting to go in a cocoon too. -Kyra
• One of the caterpillars is in a pupa. -Kayleigh
• Four of the caterpillars are about the be in a cocoon because they are hanging in a J. -David
• One is in a chrysalis! Some of the others have really long prolegs. -Paytin
• The chrysalis is a little bit spiky. -Anthony
• There is a lot of web in the cups. -Matthew S.
• When we got here, one had turned into a cocoon. -Alexander
• The caterpillars are in a J so that means they are going to be in a chrysalis. -Emma
• The cocoon is kind of brownish. -Keira

Day 9

Today was Inspiration Day! When we got back this afternoon, the caterpillars were really moving around their cups.

• The caterpillars are as big as their cups now. -Kyra
• They have their prolegs. -Juny
• They are different colors now, like black and green. -Emma
• Their prolegs got bigger. -Albert
• They are crawling around their cup. -Paytin
• They are a little bigger. -Matthew S.
• They have lots of webs. -Ryan S.
• They are so wiggly and their food is brown. -Kayleigh
• Some are hanging upside down like a J. -Casey
• They are eating upside down. -Elin
• Their food is brown because it is getting old. -Kady
• The caterpillars are different and their food is brownish. -Alex

Day 8

Changes we notice today:

• They look like there are more webs. -Matthew S.
• They have been shedding and are fatter. -Paytin
• The caterpillars look like they have almost finished their food. -Kady
• I think they got longer. -Elin
• You can see them a lot better because they are bigger. -Kayleigh
• They have a white stripe on them now. -Ryan S.
• At first there were no webs. Now there are lots. -Ryan M.
• They are almost becoming a cocoon because there are more webs. -Anthony
• Their food used to be yellow but now it is brown. -Isabel
• One of the caterpillars is stuck in his web. -Keira

Day 7

 This morning when we came to school we saw some small changes with our caterpillars.

• They look longer. -Matthew S.
• There are more black dots, which is the skin they shed. -Paytin
• There's less food in the container. -Isabel
• They are fatter. -Elin
• The caterpillars have web on them and they ate a lot. -Alex
• There's white on the bottom of the caterpillar. -Anthony
• There is food stuck in the webs. -Juny
• We all noticed that there is more web and all of the caterpillars are hanging from the top of their containers.

Day 6

We came back to school after our weekend and saw that our caterpillars have changed a lot!

• The caterpillars look fatter and longer than on Friday. -Kady
• They have some light green stripes. -Sarah
• The caterpillars have hair. There is a web. They look different. -Alex
• I see that they have eaten lots of their food. -Paytin
• Their food looks darker. -Juny
• They used to be 1 cm. Now they are even bigger! Now they are probably like an inch long. -Ryan S.
• The caterpillars are getting bigger and bigger. -Emma
• The caterpillars are longer. We can see their prolegs. -Albert
• They are not in their cocoons yet. -Keira
• The food looks pebbly and sticky because they've been eating it. -Elin
• Their hair looks like it grew longer. -Anthony

Day 3

 Today the caterpillars are still getting bigger. Some of them ate the skin they shed. We also saw them eating upside down. They are starting to grow their prolegs too! We learned about that from this website. We also think they are getting hairier and spikier.

Questions we have today:

• What do caterpillars eat when they are butterflies? -Ryan S.
• When are they going to go in their chrysalis? -Juny
• How can the caterpillars hang upside down? -Elin
• Why do they have spots on them? -Anthony
• How did they grow prolegs? -Albert

We learned that the caterpillars spin a silky web to help them hang upside down!

Day 2

 Today the caterpillars look bigger. Their food looks less, so they probably ate it. We also saw bumps of food that they probably ate. There is also a black ball inside the container, so we think that the caterpillars shed some of their skin.




Questions we have:

• How do the caterpillars get new skin? -Alexander
• How do the caterpillars dig inside the food? -Elin
• How can the caterpillars see? -Matthew S.
• How do caterpillars eat the food? -Emma
• Where are the caterpillar's eyes? -Ryan M.
• How do they shed if they have spikes on them?-Keira

• Where is the caterpillar's mouth? -Albert
• How do they transform in their cocoons? -Ryan S.
• Why are they spiky? -Kayleigh

Day 1

Today the caterpillars are small, black, and spiky. Their food is on the ground.

Things We Know about Caterpillars and Butterflies

Here are some things we already know:

• I think caterpillars have 20 legs. - Matthew S.
• I know that different caterpillars and butterflies can be different colors. - Paytin
• Butterflies are colorful. - Sarah
• A caterpillar looks like a worm, but it transforms. -Ryan S.
• Some caterpillars are poisonous. - Elin
• Some butterflies wings can be white. - Alex
• Some caterpillars have spots. -Juny
• Eggs hatch in three days to three weeks. - Ryan M.
• Butterflies lay more than 100 eggs. - Albert
• Some caterpillars can be red and black. - Alexander
• I used to have a painted lady butterfly! - Kayleigh
• A caterpillar eats and eats until it builds a cocoon. -Casey
• Caterpillars make a cocoon. -Isabel
• Butterflies can fly, but caterpillars don't. -Kady
• Some caterpillars when they turn into butterflies have spots that look like eyes. -Emma
• When butterflies lay eggs, the butterfly dies. -Keira

Questions we have:

• How do they make their cocoons? - Ryan S.
• I wonder what is inside the cocoon. What does it look like? - Juny
• How can the caterpillar stick on things? Some are sticking on the container. - Casey
• How can they move so easily upside down? -Elin
• Do caterpillars know how to swim? -Paytin
• How big is the butterfly going to be? -Emma
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The Caterpillars Are Here!

Today after school, the caterpillars arrived! I unpacked the box, put caterpillar food in each of the containers, and then put the caterpillars into their new homes. Over the next few weeks we will watch them grow and change!