Picture Book - GPS in Science

     I chose the picture book, Butterfly House by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Greg Shed. This poignant  story is beautifully written and illustrated, seeming personal and from the heart. In this story, a young girl saves a caterpillar from being eaten by a hungry bluejay. Her grandfather helps her make a butterfly house to keep it safe. They decorate the house with colorful flowers and leaves and watch the larvae as it transforms from caterpillar to buttefly. Time comes for the girl to set the butterfly free. Grandfather tells of a time when he, too raised a butterfly and set it free. Years pass and the girl grows into an old woman. Each spring, an abundance of butterflies come to her garden. Is it because she showed a kindness to a caterpillar many years ago as a child?
     The book does not disclose what happens in the "between" years. However, the  human life cycle  is implied. Grandfather is no longer in the story and the little girl is an old woman.
     I began this lesson by asking, "What do you know about butterflies?" We wrote responses like "they are pretty, they can fly, they come from caterpillars, on the board. Then I introduced four vocabulary words and wrote short definitions on the board as follows:
          larvae - just hatched baby insects
         chrysalis - a cocoon like house
          falter - to stumble or lose strength
         nectar - sweet, clear, honeylike juice in flowers (like what is in honeysuckles)
      After the vocabulary discussion, I read the book. We discussed if what we thought was true and how all living things change. We  talked about other changes in the story (we had a poster, "How will you change?" and we talked about that. They said the grandfather died (and went to heaven). Then the students wrote and drew the four stages of a butterfly.
     The next day I reviewed by  recalling facts. Then I paired the students together and had them read factual information about butterflies and then draw the stages of a butterfly. We also watched a brief clip of butterflies migrating.
     I would change the time of year that I taught this lesson. I think it would be better to teach in the spring with life cycles of frogs and birds. I would let the children make butterfly houses and I would order a live kit (http://www.nature-gift.com/) and let the children actually raise and release Painted Lady butterflies.
     I think it helped to preteach the vocabulary. The children seemed to understand what I meant as I was reading.

GPS Science Standard:  S2L1.  Students will investigate the life cycles of different living organisms