Butterfly Life Cycle

Students begin this unit by focusing on how butterflies undergo metamorphosis as they move through their life cycle. Students observe the different stages of painted lady butterflies as they develop and grow. 

• One of the reasons we know that butterflies are living things is that they grow as they move through their life cycle.  
• Unlike people or plants, butterflies go through metamorphosis, which happens whenever a living thing completely changes its form from one stage to the next in its life cycle.

• What happens to people as we grow?
• How is the way that people grow different from how butterflies grow?
• How did the plants in the last unit grow?
• How is a caterpillar connected to a butterfly?
• What has to happen before a caterpillar can turn into an adult?
• How does the caterpillar change during the pupa stage?  
• How does a butterfly look different from a caterpillar?

Abdomen: the back segment of an insect where the stomach is

Antennae:  body parts of insects that are used to smell, touch, and taste things

Larva: an insect’s young, worm-like form; a caterpillar for butterflies and moths

Pupa:  the inactive stage of an insect when it changes; does not eat

Head: the front segment of an insect where the antennae, mouthparts, and eyes are found

Life cycle: the stages an organism passes through on its way from birth to death

Metamorphosis: when a living thing completely changes its form from one stage to the next in its life cycle

Thorax: the middle segment of an insect where the legs and wings are found

Studying Butterflies 

Martha is a scientist. She studies butterflies and moths. One day, Martha had a question. Can adult butterflies remember things that happened to them when they were young?

How Butterflies Change

Butterflies and moths don’t grow like people do. As you grow, you get bigger. But your body keeps the same parts. Your head looks similar. So do your arms and legs.

Butterflies and moths go through a complete change as they grow. A young butterfly doesn’t look like an adult butterfly. This is why Martha was curious. She wanted to know if butterflies and moths remember things after they change.

As living things grow, they move through a life cycle. A life cycle is the stages all living things go through on their way from birth to death.

Butterflies and moths start as eggs. This is stage one. Time passes.

The eggs hatch. A caterpillar comes out of the egg. This caterpillar is the larva of moths and butterflies. A larva is an insect’s young, worm-like form. This is stage two.

Caterpillars eat a lot. They need to grow big. When a caterpillar grows big enough, it covers itself with a skin to protect it. It hangs from a branch. It is now in stage three. It is a pupa. The pupa is inactive. It doesn’t eat. It survives on the food it stored as a caterpillar. This is a pupa.

From the outside, it doesn’t look like much is happening. But inside, all of the parts of the caterpillar are changing. It is becoming a butterfly.

 

In this lesson, students observe the butterfly life cycle and create a diagram of the painted lady butterfly at each state in its life cycle to gather data on how it changes as it moves from birth to death. Students use their magnifying glasses to observe the painted lady caterpillars as they progress through each stage of their life cycle. Students use information from the student reader and their own observations to evaluate what butterflies need to survive—such as air, water, and food—and how butterflies are different from plants.