The 6th grade science and Language and Literature teachers planned together to give our students a valuable experience.

IDU connection:  English: character development/metamorphosis using a character from Surviving the Applewhites Book;  Life Science: butterfly development/metamorphosis during characteristics and needs of living things unit.

Purpose of Butterflies Live field trip:  To interact with all of the stages of metamorphosis from egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to adult butterfly from beginning to end in order to use those stages as a representation of a book characters life/journey from the beginning to the end of the book.

The field trip also contributed to the service learning component as we talked about what types of plants butterflies need for each stage of their lives so that they might plant their own garden and/or help maintain the one we have at TMS.  Students also collaborated as part of a team to complete a scavenger hunt, allowing for students from various feeder schools to get to know each other in a safe learning environment.  Parents commented on this being a wonderful opportunity for that to happen.

Note from Ms. Forester, science teacher:   This unit helped give students awareness of life around them as they now bring caterpillars from around campus to my room (instead of stepping on them) and we cocoon them and watch them go through the stages of development also.