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How does a butterfly help plants and flowers?
Through this text students can listen to a non fiction text about butterflies. They can listen and view the images of the story while gathering new information. Through the read to me option students can pause, rewind, and skip through allowing them to be in charge of their own learning.

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Read National Geographic Readers: Flutter, Butterfly! on Epic

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Read National Geographic Readers: Flutter, Butterfly! on Epic

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National Geographic Readers: Flutter, Butterfly! kids' book from the leading digital reading platform with a collection of 40,000+ books from 250+ of the world's best publishers. Read now on Epic.

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Virtual Field Trip to a Butterfly Conservatory 

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Virtual Field Trip to a Butterfly Conservatory 

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What is a lepidopterist?
This video takes students on a virtual field trip to butterfly conservatory where a real life lepidopterist shows them around. They learn about host plants, nectar plants and how to plant their own butterfly garden.

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KidVision Pre-K | A Day With a Butterfly Expert | Virtual Field Trip | Season 11 | Episode 1 | PBS

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Miss Penny visits Butterfly World to learn about the role of a Butterfly Expert!

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What are the four stages of a butterfly's life cycle? This nonfiction article goes in depth describing each stage of the transformative process of the caterpillar. Students will have the opportunity to view real photos and read about each specific stage more thoroughly. National Geographic for kids allows the students to learn new facts that are geared towards their age.

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We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation - a process known as " metamorphosis ".

Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!

It all starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Inside these tiny eggs, caterpillars grow. Depending on the species, the eggs can vary in shape and texture - they can be round, oval or cylindrical, and smooth, bumpy or wrinkled. The time it takes for the eggs to hatch can also vary - in some species, they will hatch within a few weeks and in others they will only hatch once the weather is warm enough.

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Stage 2: the caterpillar

Once ready, the caterpillar leaves its egg home and enters the big outside world! And these little critters have one serious appetite - they actually eat their way out of the egg and immediately start chomping on the leaves of the host plant. During this stage, they shed their skin four or five times - as the caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin underneath. A fully grown caterpillar can be over 100 times larger than when it emerged from its egg. Wow!

Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a "pupa" (or chrysalis) - a kind of vessel in which the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. They usually do this on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. The "pupa" stage may last a few weeks to several months depending on the species. During this time, a hardened case forms around the pupa to protect it from predators and extreme weather conditions. And inside, the tissue, limbs and organs of the caterpillar transform. The result? A wonderful winged butterfly!

Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open. But it's not time for take off just yet, as the wings are at first wet, soft and wrinkled against its body. The butterfly waits for its wings to dry, and pumps a liquid called hemolymph into them so that they become big and strong. Once fit for flight, this brilliant bug then takes to the air in search for flowers to feed on and for other butterflies to mate with.

And that's the cycle complete - and ready to start all over again!

DID YOU KNOW?
Moths also go through this process of metamorphosis. Check out the four stages of the Atlas moth, below - the largest moth in the world!

Images: Atlas moth: Butterfly World. All other images: Getty Images UK. Monarch butterfly on flower: James Laurie, Shutterstock.

Cool, huh? Did you enjoy learning about the butterfly life cycle? Let us know by leaving a comment, below!

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We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings. But did you know that these fab flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation - a process known as " metamorphosis ". Join Nat Geo Kids as we follow the life-cycle of this quirky creature, from the egg to the air!

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What does a caterpillar build around itself before it changes?
This short educational video allows the students to witness the stages of metamorphosis in real life. This video takes the viewer on an exploration with Ranger Zak. Using observation skills they will be able to view caterpillars and monarch butterflies in their natural habitat. Ranger Zak addresses the stages of Metamorphosis and shows each stage throughout the process.

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The Butterfly Life Cycle | Educational Videos For Kids

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How does a butterfly start its life? The focus of this video demonstrates the life cycle of a butterfly. Moby and Ben select the metamorphosis process to research and share their findings with the class. The video serves as a guided discovery and stops and asks questions for the viewer. Students will have a better understanding of the phases of the life cycle and can check their understanding through the question and answer.

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BrainPOP ELL - Butterfly Life Cycle: Guided Discovery and Question Circling (TPRS)

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What is symmetry? How does a Monarch butterfly display forms of symmetry?
Students will have the opportunity to follow a step by step guide and draw their own Monarch butterfly. Through lesson they will also learn about symmetry and how a butterfly's wings are symmetrical.

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Watch How to Draw a Monarch Butterfly Real Easy on Epic

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Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

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online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Watch How to Draw a Monarch Butterfly Real Easy on Epic

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Instantly access How to Draw a Monarch Butterfly Real Easy plus over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids.

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Can you name the stages of a human life in comparison to a butterfly's life?
Students can read facts about butterflies, caterpillars, and the metamorphosis process. Students can analyze and examine key details in the text and learn new information.

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Read The Life Cycle of a Butterfly on Epic

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Epic reaches 75 million kids in class and after school.

Built on a collection of 40,000+ popular, high-quality books from 250+ of the world's best publishers, Epic safely fuels curiosity and reading confidence for kids 12 and under.

Get Started

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
online access fun thousands children great kids ebooks books

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Read The Life Cycle of a Butterfly on Epic

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The Life Cycle of a Butterfly kids' book from the leading digital reading platform with a collection of 40,000+ books from 250+ of the world's best publishers. Read now on Epic.

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What does a caterpillar build around itself to sleep in?
This short song is a great way for students to sing the stages of the life cycle. Some students retain facts better through song, and with this simple song they can sing the stages of Metamorphosis.

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Fiction Novel: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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Fiction Novel: The Very Hungry Caterpillar

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What insect hatches from a tiny egg?
Students will read the famous story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The story starts off with a tiny egg on a leaf and takes the reader on a journey of transitioning from a caterpillar to a butterfly. The fun illustrations and colorful food items keep students engaged as they witness the caterpillar eating his way through everything.

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Four Stages of the butterfly life cycle 

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What happens inside the caterpillar's cocoon or chrysalis?
Students will be able to read, review, and refresh their memory on the four stages of the life cycle. They will learn what happens during each stage and review the process of metamorphosis.

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What is your favorite stage of the butterfly's life?
Students will have the opportunity to create a life cycle craft demonstrating all the stages. Using simple classroom supplies students will be able to make, and create their own butterfly metamorphosis art.

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The other day we randomly had a metamorphosis themed Spring kind of a day. We needed to complete it with a metamorphosis craft. I designed...

The other day we randomly had a metamorphosis themed Spring kind of a day. We needed to complete it with a metamorphosis craft. I designed one that could be transitioned to show all 4 stages of transformation (egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly).

After some creative thinking, a practice run, and a template I figured it out. I am pretty excited about what we came up with. One of Ms. Tiger's favorite stories is The Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. She has been able to recite the whole story since she was 2. Now she has her very own transforming caterpillar, and can say the word, "Mega-more-to-sis" :). Kids and big words are adorable.

Supplies:
Clothespin
Green, Brown, White, and any light colored paper
Small or medium sized puff balls
Glue
Clear tape
Markers including brown and green
Butterfly printable (available towards the end of this post)

Directions:
1. Print out the Butterfly Metamorphosis printable and cut out the shapes to use as a template. Trace and cut out the pieces. I cut the pieces out for Ms. Tiger, but if you wanted, your kiddo could cut their pieces out.
Each butterfly will need the following pieces:

1 Left brown wing-chrysalis

1 Right green wing-leaf

1 pair of any color wings-butterfly

1 white egg

1 brown branch

4 (Lg)-6(Med) puffballs

1 clothespin

2. Glue the brown branch to one side of the clothespin. Then, glue the puff balls to the other side of the clothespin and set aside to dry.

3. Tape the two butterfly wings together in the middle, and then go crazy and color away :). This was Ms. Tiger's favorite part. By the end, she started coloring herself like a butterfly too.

I am guessing you could probably glue the wings together, but then you would need to wait for them to dry, and I have less patience than most :).

4. Glue the brown chrysalis and the green leaf to the back of the butterfly being sure to line up the shape of the wings together.

5. Color the leaf using your green marker and glue the egg on. Color horizontal lines on the chrysalis using your brown marker and your done!

At first we didn't color our chrysalis, but later I went back and added the lines to look more textured like a cocoon. You can see the lines in the picture of the final project.

How To Tell The Metamorphosis Stages
Stage 1: Egg

Fold the butterfly in half and use the brown side of the clothespin to clip to the leaf like a branch.

Stage 2: Caterpillar/Larva

Turn the clothespin over to the caterpillar side and clip onto the leaf
Stage 3: Chrysalis

Remove the clothespin and wrap the chrysalis around the caterpillar

Stage 4: Butterfly

Open the wings up and pin the clothespin in the middle of the wings

Need a Metamorphosis Kid Activity?
Use tunnels to let kids pretend they are inside a butterfly chrysalis. Let them wiggle around, pop out, and then fly around the room. If you have butterfly wings, strap those on too.

Need a butterfly snack?:
Cut up strawberries, grapes, and bananas to make a butterfly. I used grape skins to make the antennas.

So that's all the butterfly time we have for now. We hope you had a bunch of fun learning and creating with us.

Butterfly Metamorphosis Printable-Click Here to download

(Download available via Dropbox, you do not need a Dropbox account in order to access it.)

More Bug Crafts

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Butterfly Metamorphosis Craft + Free Template

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The other day we randomly had a metamorphosis themed Spring kind of a day. We needed to complete it with a metamorphosis craft. I designed...

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Fiction 10 Magic Butterflies Read aloud 

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Fiction 10 Magic Butterflies Read aloud 

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There were 10 butterflies and 2 flew away, how many butterflies are there now?
This fun read aloud will allow students to listen to a story with butterflies as the main characters while also incorporating math skills. Through simple subtraction students will build their number sense while listening to this magical story

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'Ten Magic Butterflies' written and real aloud by Danica McKellar | Tonight's story is called 'Ten Magic Butterflies' written and read aloud by Danica McKellar 

See more story times from Brightly here: https://rb.gy/6jyukb | By Offaly Libraries | Facebook

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Tonight's story is called 'Ten Magic Butterflies' written and read aloud by Danica McKellar 

See more story times from Brightly here: https://rb.gy/6jyukb