The Life Cycle of a Butterfly

Monica D. Monarchs Quest for Survival 

Written by: Kristy Green 

University of Kansas 

This book is dedicated to Mrs. Moody for her hard work in the outdoor learning classroom. 

June 9

Mrs. Moody is the environmental scientist at Bridgeport Intermediate School. She planted milkweed in the school garden for a very special reason.  

September 1

Monica D. Monarch was passing through Bridgeport on her way to Mexico, when she began admiring Mrs. Moody's garden. She thought it would be a nice place to lay her eggs so she darted down to the milkweed and began laying eggs.  Monica made her little white egg sticky so that it would stick to the leaves of the milkweed plant.  

September 14

Two weeks after the initial Monica D. Monarch sighting, Mrs. Moody's students discovered Henry, the monarch butterfly larva, chomping  down the milkweed plants with his little mouth. Henry the caterpillar was beautiful with black and yellow markings. 

September 16

Choosing the perfect spot for his magical metamorphosis was challenging for Henry.  He knew it needed to be a dry, safe place where birds could not see him. So he chose the frame of Mrs. Moody's teaching board.  He created a little silk pad to attach himself to.  Now, he will pupate , or transform  into something magnificent! 

September 16.......several hours later....

Henry worked really hard for several hours and transformed into a pupa. The pupa is bright green with little gold dots.   Inside the pupa is where all the magic happens. Henry is trasforming into a butterfly! 

September 23 

After Henry's complete metamorphosis, he needed a few hours to let his wings dry.  When his wings were dry he practiced with his wings several times to make sure they would work. When he knew his wings were ready, he began to fly. 

September 23 

Showing off his new colors was easy for Henry. Mrs. Moody showed her students the head, thorax, abdomen, and legs.  She also showed them Henry's proboscis, he uses it to suck juice, called nectar, from flowers. 

October 1-26

Tagging Henry wasn't easy!  Mrs. Moody and her students were able to tag six different monarch butterflies. She will send her data to the University of Kansas to be documented through a program called Monarch Watch.  

For more information on tagging Monarch butterflies please visit:

www.monarchwatch.org/tagging 

October 1-26 continued..... 

The students had to be very careful when they were tagging the butterfies.  They placed the tag on the outside wing of the butterflies discal cell. After they tagged the butterfly, they recorded the date on their datasheet.  

Mrs. Moody and her students are patiently waiting to hear if Henry and his friends have been identified in Mexico.  

Citations 

Ehri, L. C., & McCormick, S. (1998). Phases of word learning: Implications for instruction with delayed and disabled readers. Reading & Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 14(2), 135-163

Gibbons, Gail. Monarch Butterfly. Malaysia: Tien Wah Press. (1998) print. 

Webster's New World Children's Dictionary. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, Inc. (1997). Print. 

Butterflies of the World. New York: Workman Publishing. (2002). Print 

Monarch Watch Tagging System instructions from the University of Kansas 

Images 

Moody, Shelly. Bridgeport Intermediate School Garden. (2015)