We held one of our monarch butterflies today!  Tr. Ann held the butterfly's wings while we took turns making a perch for the butterfly's feet with our open hands.  When we felt the sensation of a "butterfly tickle" on our skin and couldn't help but giggle.

Tr. Ann explained that monarch butterflies have tiny hooks on their feet so they are able to rest safely while they nectar and roost at night.  The female butterflies have an extra set of hooks to scratch the surface of leaves before tasting them with their feet.  A female monarch butterfly lays her eggs on milkweed because milkweed is the only type of plant monarch caterpillars eat; she tastes the leaves with her feet before she deposits eggs on the plant.

Stay tuned for more news tomorrow!

 

  

 

We are raising our monarch caterpillars this fall in clear plastic boxes lined with paper towel and milkweed leaves.  A second paper towel is stretched across the top of the box and held in place by the snap-on lid.  The boxes allow the caterpillars to grow without the fear of predators.  Many of the caterpillars we are raising are the third generation descendants of the monarch butterflies raised in May by the previous kindergarten class. 
After eating and shedding their skin four times, the caterpillars hang upside down in "J-form" by a tiny pad of spun silk.  With the final shedding of their outer layer of skin, a lime-green chrysalis speckled with gold dots is revealed.  A monarch chrysalis darkens and wings become visible as the cuticle of the chrysalis suddenly transparent 24 hours before a butterfly will emerge.

When a monarch emerges from the paper-like chrysalis it expands its wings with fluid in its abdomen and still hanging on to its chrysalis, dries its wings for flight.

Kindergartners were very excited to come to discover beautiful orange, black, and white wings where chrysalides previously hung on Monday morning.

The news spread quickly from one kindergartner to the next as the children entered the classroom.  Awe and wonder reflected in the face of every child.  "Wow!"  "They transformed!" "Ah, they are beautiful!"  "Look at them flapping their wings!" was all we could say...

Our monarch caterpillars are eating a lot of leaves!  It's so much fun to hold their soft bodies in our hands.  We are always very gentle with our caterpillars.  They are living creatures and need us to take care of them.  Our caterpillars are yellow, white, and black striped.  They have two pair of antennae and "sticky" suction-cup feet underneath their bodies.  As they eat they make holes in the leaves and sometimes eat the entire leaf.  Every morning we clean the frass (caterpillar poop!) our of the containers and watch them crawl in our hands.

Someday we hope the will make chrysalides and turn into butterflies.

For more photos of our monarch butterfly-raising  project, please see our slideshow titled "2012=2013 Monarchs & Migration."

Stay tuned for exciting updates from the Nature Play area in our classroom!

A concerted effort was underway this morning to expand on the "single spinner" designs of the previous day. Take a look at the moving parts our friends engineered with simple snap-together K'Nex pieces, the exciting results of awesome peer-to-peer teaching and learning.  For more "2012-2013 Kindergarten In Action!" videos,  refer to the menu at the right side of our blog.

 

 

 

Kindergarten's first harvest from the Salsa Garden (planted by last year's kindergarten class in the spring) was delivered to Chef Allie the morning of our first all-school organic foods lunch.  We harvested bell peppers, red and orange cherry tomatoes, basil, parsley, chives, and oregano.  We saw our first grade friends on our way to the kitchen and showed them the produce from the garden.  A day earlier, Chef Allie visited the Salsa Garden with David and Matthew, now in first grade.  News from the garden will be posted to the blog and cataloged in our "2012-2013 Gardening with Kindergarten" slideshow throughout the year.  Enjoy!