Butterfly Release

Metamorphosis is Complete

Meet our Painted Ladies!

This morning, our butterflies began emerging from their chrysalises!

The butterflies are damp and crumpled. They hang on to their chrysalises while their wings flap. The wings straighten out and dry.

Our butterflies are hungry. We gave them some sugar water to drink.

The Chrysalis - Metamorphosis Begins

We brought about sixty caterpillars into our classroom. They were very small and super fast. The caterpillars  were very hungry and consumed a lot of food (nutrient). We observed a distinct thickening, as they became larger and more bristley.

The caterpillars spun a silk thread or pad to attach to. They hung from this pad in a 'j' position with their heads hanging downward. Each caterpillar has now formed a chrysalis, which is a brownish or tan colour. The children are all wondering: What is happening inside the chrysalis?

Planting Experiments

We have been conducting experiments to determine the conditions that plants need to grow.
We asked questions, made predictions, conducted experiments to test our hypotheses, observed, and drew conclusions. We have learned that plants need sun,, air, and water to grow. We learned that it is possible to grow plants without any soil at all!

Celery Experiment

Our inquiry on living things has led to an interest in growing plants. Students planted bean seeds and sunflower seeds and are helping to care for their plants by watering them. As students watered the soil of their plants, they began to wonder how the water traveled from the soil into the plant and out to the leaves.

To answer this question, we conducted a celery experiment. We filled four glasses with water and then added food colouring to the water. Then we put a stalk of celery in each glass and predicted what might happen. Within an hour we observed that the celery stalks began to change colour. We left the celery in the dye overnight, and noticed that the leaves became almost completely saturated with colour. We concluded that tiny tubes in the plant draw the water up from the roots like a straw.

Simply Marvellous Machines

Students demonstrated how we use wheels and axles every day. They discovered how wheel size makes a difference.

Students conducted an experiment and discovered that it was easier to make bubbles using gears rather than spoons. They also created their own gear train.

Students learned how to predict which objects would slide and which would roll on an inclined plane. They tested different factors that help an object move (e.g., weight of object and height of ramp).

Students tested a lever to discover how it lifts heavier objects. Then they created their own levers.

Students ran a comparative experiment in which they tested which machine was best for the job. They learned to show which objects are wedges.