ALEX Learning Activity

  

Impatient Caterpillars

A Learning Activity is a strategy a teacher chooses to actively engage students in learning a concept or skill using a digital tool/resource.

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  This learning activity provided by:  
Author: Leann Bryan
System:Calhoun County
School:Calhoun County Board Of Education
  General Activity Information  
Activity ID: 3028
Title:
Impatient Caterpillars
Digital Tool/Resource:
Teaching Books: Complete Video Reading of The Very Impatient Caterpillar narrated by Ross Burach
Web Address – URL:
Overview:

This activity activates and builds on students’ background knowledge of the butterfly’s unique life cycle. Students will begin the study by completing a K-W-L chart (Know, Want to Know, and Learned). Students will interact with the picture book The Very Impatient Caterpillar by Ross Burach and note characteristics that make the life cycle of a caterpillar unique. 

This learning activity was created as a result of the ALEX - Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) Resource Development Summit.
  Associated Standards and Objectives  
Content Standard(s):
Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 3
6 ) Create representations to explain the unique and diverse life cycles of organisms other than humans (e.g., flowering plants, frogs, butterflies), including commonalities such as birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

NAEP Framework
NAEP Statement::
L4.5: Plants and animals have life cycles. Both plants and animals begin life and develop into adults, reproduce, and eventually die. The details of this life cycle are different for different organisms.

Unpacked Content
Scientific And Engineering Practices:
Developing and Using Models
Crosscutting Concepts: Patterns
Disciplinary Core Idea: From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Evidence Of Student Attainment:
Students:
  • Create representations to explain the unique life cycles of organisms other than humans.
  • Create representations to explain the diverse life cycles of organisms other than humans.
  • Identify relevant components (organisms, birth, growth, reproduction, and death) of their representations.
  • Describe relationships between components in their representations.
Teacher Vocabulary:
  • Create
  • Explain
  • Representations
  • Unique
  • Diverse
  • Commonalities
  • Life cycles
  • Organisms
  • Birth
  • Growth
  • Reproduction
  • Death
Knowledge:
Students know:
  • Organisms are born, grow, reproduce and die in a pattern known as a life cycle.
  • Organisms have unique and diverse life cycles.
  • An organism can be classified as either a plant or an animal.
  • There is a causal direction of the cycle (e.g., without birth, there is no growth; without reproduction, there are no births).
Skills:
Students are able to:
  • Create representations to describe that organisms have unique and diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
  • Explain the unique and diverse life cycles of organisms other than humans.
  • Explain commonalities of organisms such as birth, growth, reproduction, and death.
Understanding:
Students understand that:
  • Patterns of change can be used to make predictions about the unique life cycles of organisms.
AMSTI Resources:
AMSTI Module:
Heredity and Diversity
Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards
AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.3.6- Observe and recognize the major stages (birth, growth, reproduction, and death) in the life cycles of organisms other than humans (e.g., flowering plants, frogs, butterflies).
Learning Objectives:

Students will be able to identify unique characteristics of a caterpillar/butterfly life cycle.
  Strategies, Preparations and Variations  
Phase:
Before/Engage
Activity:

  1. Teacher should provide each student with a K-W-L chart. Have each student complete the first column with what they already know about the life cycle of a butterfly. KWL Chart: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OcAUtJURmN0L1cJLA2z6-fWjb2axG2Xg/view?usp=drive_link

  2. The teacher will direct the students to complete the second column of the K-W-L chart with one or two things they would like to know about butterflies and their life cycle.

  3. Teacher may choose to take a few answers from the class to assess the group's prior knowledge of the topic. 

  4. Teacher should show the video of the complete reading of “The Very Impatient Caterpillar” by Ross Burach. 

  5. Teacher should lead a class discussion about the unique life cycle of the caterpillar from the picture book.

    • What happened first on his journey to become a butterfly?

    • What did the caterpillar have to do to prepare to become a butterfly?

    • How long did the caterpillar have to wait before becoming a butterfly?

  6. Teacher will direct students to complete the final column of the K-W-L chart with one or two things they learned from the picture book. 
Assessment Strategies:

Formative Assessment:

The teacher will assess the students' understanding of the basic concept of the butterfly's life cycle based on the answers from the K-W-L chart and through class discussion.
Advanced Preparation:

Approximate Duration: 45 minutes

Materials and Resources: 

Preparation:

  • The teacher should have a basic understanding of the life cycle of a caterpillar/butterfly.

  • Make sure the link and technology equipment work prior to showing the video.

  • Print copies of K-W-L chart

  • Students need no prior knowledge as this is the introduction to this lesson. 
Variation Tips (optional):

Acceleration:

For advanced students, you can have them map the caterpillar’s life cycle on a chart or handout. 

Intervention:

  • K-W-L chart can be completed in whole group, rather than individually. 

  • After finishing the book, go back to each stage of the caterpillar’s journey and name what stage of the lifecycle it is in at the portion of the book. Connecting the life cycle with the character’s adventure in the picture book will be helpful for your students struggling to grasp the concept of the caterpillar’s life cycle.
Notes or Recommendations (optional):

This task can be used as a stand-alone activity or in conjunction with Impatient Caterpillars Code the Life Cycle (during activity) and Impatient Caterpillars Write the Life Cycle (after activity).
  Keywords and Search Tags  
Keywords and Search Tags: butterfly, caterpillar, life cycle, Ross Burach, The Very Impatient Caterpillar