Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Plan:
Outdoor Activity: Ride to another Park

Literacy/Science: Read "Can You Tell a Butterfly From a Moth?" by Buffy Silverman

Art: Butterfly and Moth Handprint Painting
Clean up Art Area, Steam Floor
Science/Art: Document Crystal Growth
Swim Lessons
Math (L): Counting Dots (while I'm cutting out the numbers to put on duplos for another activity)

How it went:

Outdoor Activity: Another successful outing to the park, this time to meet friends and play.

Literacy/Science: We read the book (concepts covered will be below), the kids liked it.  RJ paid more attention than L.

Art: Both kiddos enjoyed making their butterflies and moths.  I painted their hands following their directions and then they used their hands to form the wings of the butterflies and moths.  Not unexpectedly, L quit after printing his butterflies, when RJ went on to make moths too.  We also discovered that apparently fairly new black tempera paint can explode and smell like sour milk.  I shook the (less than a year old) bottle and when I opened it, it basically shot out and sprayed my neck (thankfully missing my face) and continued to bubble out when I ran to get a rag to clean it up.  I've never had that happen before!

Crystal Growth: Unfortunately we did not get around to this today.  RJ looked at it, but didn't document.

Swim lessons/Math: The boys have back to back lessons (unfortunately they couldn't fit them into classes at the same time), which gives me a little time with each of them when the other is in class.  When RJ was in his class, L matched capital and lowercase letters.  I had planned on him drawing and counting dots, but he was more interested in the letters and I was able to keep cutting out the words and numbers while working with him that way. When L was in class, RJ worked on the Harry Potter Math Sheet.  I was hoping he would finish it, but he stopped after 4+4, so we will have to continue with that later.  He ended up drawing a little and playing with other kids waiting.

Butterfly Concepts Covered:


  • Butterflies and moths look alike
    • Adults have 4 wings
      • Wings are covered in tiny scales
        • Scales give wings their colors
  • Butterflies and Moths are insects
    • Adult insects have six legs
  • Tell butterflies and moths apart by their colors
    • Butterfly wings are bright
    • Moth wings are dull
      • Usually gray or brown
  • More kinds of moths than butterflies
  • Butterflies fly during the day
  • Moths fly at night (usually)
    • Most are noctural (active at night)
    • They tend to fly near porch lights
  • Butterfly folds wings up at rest
  • Moths spread wings at rest
  • Butterfly body is skinny
  • Moth body is fat and fuzzy
  • Insects have antennae
    • Use them to feel, taste, and smell
    • Butterfly antennae have knobs on the ends
    • Moth antennae do not have knobs and can be feathery
    • Wave their antennae to smell flowers 
    • Moths and butterflies use antennae to smell for a mate
  • Butterfly unrolls a long tube and pushes it into a flower to eat
    • Tube is the butterfly's mouth
    • Sips nectar (a sweet liquid) from the flower
    • [I asked RJ what the tube was called and he recalled "proboscis"]
    • Moths eat the same way
  • All insects start life as eggs
    • Caterpillars hatch from butterfly and moth eggs
  • Caterpillars eat leaves and grow
  • Caterpillars molt (shed old skin and have new skin underneath)
    • Molt many times as they grow
    • [Asked RJ how many times. He recalled 4 from the other books]
    • [Based on pictures we noted that moth caterpillars were fuzzier than butterfly caterpillars]
  • Moth caterpillars hide under leaves or soil when done growing
    • There, they spin a cocoon
      • Cocoon is made of silk
      • Covers the caterpillar tightly
      • Inside the cocoon the caterpillar sheds its skin again
      • Grows 4 wings and six long legs
      • Changes into a moth
  • Butterfly caterpillars attach themselves to a leaf or branch with a strong silk button
    • Hangs upside down from the leaf
    • Molts one more time
    • Hard shell called a chrysalis forms around it
    • Inside it changes into a butterfly
  • Butterflies and moths fly in gardens, meadows, and woods
  • Some spots on butterfly or moth wings fool creatures that eat them (like the pictured moth whose spots look like owl eyes
  • Caterpillars also rick some hunting birds and insects
    • Tiger swallowtail caterpillar looks like bird poop, so other animals leave it alone
  • Older tiger swallowtail caterpillar has spots on its back looking like eyes, making it look like a snake
  • Monarchs taste bad, so they are avoided




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