Camouflage and invisibility are two very different things. Camouflage is the use of color or other aspects of appearance to help an object blend with its environment. Invisibility, on the other hand, is changing the way light reflects or refracts when it hits an object and thus preventing the light from reaching our eyes. We literally can not see an object that is invisible.

Becoming Invisible: From Camouflage to Cloaks tells how scientists have been able to bend electromagnetic waves that are near relatives of visible light (see Exploring Light and its Relatives Part I and Part 2) with special man-made materials called metamaterials. Using metamaterials made of metal and fiberglass, scientists have been able to develop “cloaks” that bend microwaves and infrared light around an object, hiding it from detection. Very cool!

Activity 1. Hiding with color – camouflage for younger children

Read one of the books suggested below to introduce the idea of camouflage.

Gather:

• Fabric swatches of different colors and designs
• Painter’s blue tape (doesn’t leave a residue when it is removed, but it is more expensive) or masking tape
• Suitable area to play hide and seek, indoors or out

You might want to sort the children into teams if you are working with a large group. You will need enough swatches of fabric so that each child or team can hide a few different swatches. Make loops of tape with sticky-side out and then apply a few to the back of each swatch. Now select a child/team to be the hider. They will hide the swatch in plain sight in the play area by taping the swatch to items while the other children, who will be the seekers, close their eyes or wait in another area. When the hiders have applied their swatch, have the seekers come look for it. Once they have found it, change roles. The goal is to find a background object that matches the color close enough that the fabric is difficult to see, and thus takes longer to find.

Activity 2. Hiding with color- camouflage for older children

Gather:

• Paper
• Art supplies such as markers, crayons, colored pencils, etc.
• Painter’s blue tape (doesn’t leave a residue when it is removed, but it is more expensive) or masking tape (optional)
• Suitable area to play hide and seek (optional)

For older children, have them create their own camouflage patterns for different settings. You could also have the children do the hiding activity (1), but substitute their own designs on paper for the fabric swatches. Or figure out an experiment to test the effectiveness of various camouflage designs.

Activity 3. Making glass “disappear”

We don’t need high tech metamaterials to make an object invisible. We can hide a piece of Pyrex® glass by immersing it in a material that has a similar index of refraction, Wesson® oil.

Gather:

• small Pyrex® glass bowl
• A larger glass bowl
• Wesson® oil or baby oil, or a mix of the two

Place the smaller bowl inside the larger bowl. Fill them both with Wesson® oil, baby oil, or a mix of the two. Once covered with oil, the smaller Pyrex® bowl should disappear from view.

See a similar activity using a Pyrex® stirring rod and explanation from Exploratorium

Activity 4. Make jelly marbles disappear in water

Obtain some jelly marbles from science supply stores, for example from Steve Spangler. Soak the jelly marbles overnight in water. Then fill a clear glass container with water. When you drop in the soaked jelly marbles, they will disappear.

Jelly marbles are polymers that absorb water. When they are swollen with water, they have the same index of refraction and disappear when you place them in water.

This video shows examples of both of the index of refraction activities:

Isn’t that amazing?

If you try any of these activities, be sure to let us know what you find out.

Related camouflage links:

• Brain Pop Jr. has a unit on camouflage
• The Invisible Man
• The Arts of Deception at Mongabay.com (has ads)
• Survivors: How Does Color Protect Insects from Predators?

Children’s books about camouflage (title links go to Amazon):

	Becoming Invisible: From Camouflage to Cloaks (Great Idea) by Carla Mooney (is for ages 8 and up) My review
	Hiding in Deserts (Creature Camouflage) by Deborah Underwood My review
	Animal Planet Weird and Wonderful: Show-Offs (Animal Plant Weird & Wonderful) by Margaret McPhee is not just about camouflage, but all the ways animals use color. My review
	Where in the Wild?: Camouflaged Creatures Concealed… and Revealed by David Schwartz and Yael Schy, with photography by Dwight Kuhn My review
	Where Else in the Wild? is a enchanting combination of poems by David M. Schwartz and his wife, Yael Schy, and photographs by Dwight Kuhn. My review
	How to Hide an Octopus and Other Sea Creatures (Reading Railroad) by Ruth Heller
	How to Hide a Butterfly and Other Insects (Reading Railroad) by Ruth Heller.
	What Color Is Camouflage? (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2) (Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science, Stage 2) by Carolyn B. Otto and illustrated by Megan Lloyd

Way back when I started this blog, I purposely chose the title “Bug of the Week” for the long-running Wednesday feature because I knew I would want to include spiders, pill bugs, and other creepy crawlies, as well as insects.  A World of Bugs shows children the range of arthropods and other invertebrates that are often called “bugs.” It tells what their features are, how they grow, where they live, and how they move. It is filled with huge, full color photographs that are very attractive. On the last page, the book also has some suggestions for activities to do before and after reading the book.

Identification of insects and their relatives requires careful observation of their anatomy.

Insects are part of the phylum of animals called Arthropoda.  All arthropods have:

• supporting skeleton on the outside, called an exoskeleton
• bi-lateral symmetry, which means if you draw a line down the center the two sides will be symmetrical
• jointed appendages
• segmented bodies
• specialized appendages, like antennae

The major arthropod classes can be separated by comparing their number of body regions, legs, and antennae.

Activity 1. Compare various creatures to discover features using live arthropods to observe, pictures and rubber or plastic models to explore. Give the children free explore time at first, and then start to encourage them to observe the following features:

Arachnids are the spiders, ticks, mites, scorpions and their relatives

• Have 8 legs
• Have 2 body regions, the cephalothorax (literally head-thorax), and abdomen

Spiders have 6 or 8 eyes at the front of the cephalothorax. Spiders’ mouthparts are called chelicerae and typically end in a fang. Around the mouth are the pedipalps.

For detailed information about spider anatomy, see Invertebrate Anatomy Online, the Garden Spider.

Crustaceans

The Isopods, which are called pillbugs, roly-polies, or wood lice, and other common names, have:

• 12 legs
• 2 antennae (one pair small)

Pill bug activities for kids

Centipedes and millipedes

• Many legs per segment
• Many segments
• One pair of antennae

Millipedes have 2 pairs of legs per segment.

Centipedes have one pair of legs per segment. (Photograph from Wikimedia).

Insects have:

• Three body parts:  head, thorax and abdomen
• Six legs
• One pair antennae
• Many adults have wings, but not all

Next time we will discuss how to recognize the major groups of insects, the orders.

A World of Bugs by Charlotte Guillain

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree (August 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1432955063
ISBN-13: 978-1432955069

Book was provided by publisher for review purposes.

What are Cybils? The acronym stands for Children’s and Young adult Bloggers Literary awards. Bloggers who specialize in children’s and young adult books have developed the Cybils awards to celebrate some of the best books published in the previous year.

In fact, the Cybils nomination lists are great ways to find wonderful books for children of all ages and genres. (The Cybils link will take you to the website.)

Also, if you are ever looking for more science books for children, be sure to check the science books for kids button at the top of the blog. I’ll be adding these books and more to that list as time goes by.

	A Place for Fish by Melissa Stewart and illustrated by Higgins Bond
	About Hummingbirds: A Guide for Children (The About Series) by Cathryn Sill and illustrated by John Sill
	Planting the Wild Garden by Kathryn O. Galbraith and illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin My review Related science activities
	A Butterfly Is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long My review Related Science activities
	All the Water in the World by George Ella Lyon and illustrated by Katherine Tillotson
	Animal Fights by Catherine Ham
	Bring On the Birds by Susan Stockdale
	Bugs by the Numbers by Sharon Werner and  Sarah Forss
	Can We Save the Tiger? by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Vicky White My review
	First Garden: The White House Garden and How It Grew by Robbin Gourley
	Celebritrees: Historic and Famous Trees of the World by Margi Preus and illustrated by Rebecca Gibbon
	Gorillas by Gail Gibbons
	Hatch! by Roxie Munro
	How Hybrid Cars Work (How Things Work) by Jennifer Swanson and illustrated by Glen Mullaly
	How the Weather Works: A Hands-on Guide to Our Changing Climate (Explore the Earth) by Christiane Dorion and illustrated by Beverley Young
	Howler Monkey: Super Loud (Animal Loudmouths) by Natalie Lunis
	Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story by Thomas F. Yezerski
	Prairie Storms by Darcy Pattison and illustrated by Kathleen Rietz
	Star of the Sea: A Day in the Life of a Starfish by Janet Halfmann and illustrated by Joan Paley
	Super Science: Feel the Force!: Full of Pop-Up Physics Fun by Tom Adams and illustrated by Thomas Flintham
	Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Natureby Joyce Sidman and illustrated by Beth Krommes My review
	The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle
	The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter
	Thunder Birds: Nature’s Flying Predators by Jim Arnosky

Are you looking for Science, Technology, Engineering or Math children’s books? Then you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered some of our favorites here today.

My submission today is the wonderful new book that is coming out next week, Coral Reefs by Jason Chin.

Have you ever been so immersed in a really good book that you felt like you entered a new world? In Coral Reefs, Jason Chin’s illustrations show a young reader experiencing just that when she picks up a book about coral reefs and enters a glorious underwater world of corals, fish and sea turtles. 

If you saw Jason Chin’s previous book, Redwoods, you will know what an interesting mix of highly imaginative watercolor illustrations (fictional) and straight nonfiction informational text to expect. This time the reader picks up a book at a city library and is swept into what the author calls the “cities of the sea,” the coral reef community. The reader floats through every underwater scene, carrying her (magically intact) book with her.

Having the child reader in every illustration gives interesting advantages. It gives a clear sense of scale. It also draws the real reader into each scene, giving him or her more of a sense of participation. Finally, each illustration is so different from what is typical of a nonfiction book that it really takes time to study and absorb all the nuances. Clearly, capturing the child’s imagination has a potential to lead to greater understanding of the topic.

Jason Chin thoroughly researched his book, including a visit to the coral reef off the coast of Belize. His personal experiences give to real “depth” (sorry) to the book. Did you know that some sea turtles graze on the sea grasses that grow in lagoons that form behind coral reefs? Or that the biggest fish in the world, whale sharks, visit the reef in Belize each spring to feed on eggs of spawning fish? Coral reefs are dramatically important sources of food for ocean dwellers.

In the backmatter, Chin has included a page about how coral reefs are threatened and some straightforward ways to help prevent further loss. He also shows a cross section of the structure of a typical coral reef and more information about the symbiotic relationship between the coral organisms and algae that live inside them.

Even the endpapers are informative, showing soft pencil sketches of various sea creatures with their names and size ranges underneath. It gives the feel of sketches in a nature journal.

This book would be a fabulous addition to a unit on marine habitats or to tuck into the bag for a read at the beach. Follow up with a visit to your local aquarium or even better, a snorkeling trip to a real coral reef.

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Flash Point (October 25, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1596435631
ISBN-13: 978-1596435636

	Secret of the Sleepless Whales…and More! by Ana Maria Rodriguez at Ana’s Nonfiction Blog
	My Friend the Box Turtle by Joanne Randolph At NC Teacher Stuff
	Tracks in the Sand by Loreen Leedy is now out of print, but is available as an iBook at Loreen Leedy Books
	How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous By Georgia Bragg Illustrated by Kevin O’Malley at Simply Science
	Explore Simple Machines!: 25 Great Projects, Activities, Experiments (Explore Your World series) By Anita Yasuda at Nomad Press
	Garbage: Investigate What Happens When You Throw It Out with 25 Projects (Build It Yourself series) by Donna Latham at Wrapped in Foil
	Uninvited Guests: Invisible Creatures Lurking in Your Home (Tiny Creepy Creatures) by Jennifer Swanson at Chapter Book of the Day

If you would like to participate in STEM Friday in the future, go to the new STEM Friday blog for more information.

Book was provided by publisher for review purposes.

Do you know the differences between an octopus and a squid? What is a colossal squid? How do squid survive in the extreme pressures of  the deep ocean? This book contains the answers to all these questions and many more, such as where squid live, what they eat and what eats them.

In addition to brilliant color photographs of underwater creatures, the book also has illustrations to clarify key concepts. One illustration shows the zones of the ocean. Another shows the size of a sperm whale and different species of squid compared to a semi-trailer truck.

If you aren’t sure how interesting squid can be, take a look at this video (particularly good for relaxing on a stressful day). Notice the fins on the sides of their bodies. The presence of a fin is one way to tell a squid from an octopus.

Glass Squid and Other Spectacular Squid is a wonderful nonfiction picture book for learning more about squid, curious creatures from deep in the water that we know very little about.

Reading level: Reading level R, gr 3-5
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1410942015
ISBN-13: 978-1410942012

Book was supplied by publisher for review purposes.

If you would like to try to win a copy of Fireflies, leave a comment on this post before next Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:00 noon Mountain Standard Time. For a second entry in the contest, like the Growing With Science Facebook page (see right sidebar). Please leave a comment on this post first, however, with a valid email address so that I can contact you if you are the winner. The winner will be selected at random. The easiest way to leave a comment is to click on the title of the post to send it to a separate page and then scroll to the bottom.

The contest is now closed.

Do you see fireflies glowing at night where you live?

For more information, try this previous Bug of the Week post about fireflies.

Fireflies by Mary Rose Dunn

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Capstone Press (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1429671203
ISBN-13: 978-1429671200

Both of these book caught our eye because of the brilliant monarch butterflies on the cover. Right now the monarchs are migrating, and what better way to learn about it than reading a good book? Monarch Butterfly’s Journey starts out with the life cycle of the monarch butterfly, chronicling the stages of metamorphosis. Once the adult butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, it feeds on nectar to get ready for the long journey ahead. Soon fall arrives and the monarchs head off on their long migration to Mexico. In the spring, the butterflies head north again. In the backmatter is a one page summary of the journey.

The illustrations are bright mixed-media collages by Susan Swan. I am not a huge fan of collage art in children’s books that tries for ultra-realism, but Swan’s butterflies are an example of how it should be done. They are fascinating and fun, with a high level of energy. I love the humorous side comments of the insects which make comments in their own cartoon bubbles. One butterfly asks, “Are we there yet?”

Grow Your Own Butterfly Farm by John Malam takes another tack, presenting the butterflies with food in the form of flowering plants so you can enjoy them in your own yard. This book starts with some facts, such as what butterflies are, what wildflowers are, and why we need butterflies. There are simple instructions for planting wildflowers and starting a garden to attract butterflies. (Oddly, on pages 16 and 17, there’s a section about how cats and birds do damage to newly planted gardens and how to keep them out of your seed beds. Because any animal can do damage to a garden, including dogs, goats and chickens, I’m wondering why cats were singled out?) At the end, the author suggests letting the plants go to seed for next year’s crop.

This book is illustrated with large color photographs with a lot of pretty butterflies and flowers. It is designed to be read by the child, so the sentences are short and it has simple vocabulary words with a glossary. It is a cute book to inspire youngsters to become butterfly gardeners.

If you have a young child interested in insects or if you are doing a unit on butterflies, you should take a look at these books.

Grow Your Own Butterfly Farm by John Malam

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1432951165
ISBN-13: 978-1432951160

Monarch Butterfly’s Journey by Suzanne Buckingham Slade and illustrated by Susan Swan

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Paperback: 24 pages
Publisher: Picture Window Books (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1404870296
ISBN-13: 978-1404870291

These books were provided by the publisher for review purposes.

To celebrate, I am going to have a post with recently-published science books every day this week.

Our books today are What Do We Know About Stars & Galaxies? by John Farndon
and Milky Way and Other Galaxies (The Solar System and Beyond) by Megan Kopp are excellent introductions to all the new discoveries that have been made about galaxies: how galaxies form and how they behave. (See Wrapped in Foil for a full review of the books.)

How do scientists study objects in space? Modern astronomers use a variety of telescopes to capture information about the universe. Often the telescopes are part of orbiting satellites in space. Megan Kopp’s book, in particular, covers the technology that is used to study galaxies. She talks about the Hubble Telescope, the James Webb Telescope, the Spitzer Space Telescope, and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-2, affectionately known as the AMS-2.

The telescopes monitor light and/or its relatives, that is, light and other forms of radiation in the electromagnetic spectrum. To help understand how all this works let’s explore the different types of radiation found in the electromagnetic spectrum. We will start with an introduction to the electromagnetic spectrum and radio waves. Expect more about the different forms of electromagnetic radiation over the upcoming weeks.

Activities:

Illustration from NASA

1. Create an electromagnetic spectrum wall chart.

Use a wall chart to record you observations about each type of radiation.

Gather:

• a roll of paper about five to six feet long (butcher’s paper works great)
• colored markers
• tape to fix the paper to the wall (painter’s tape won’t leave a mark)
• yardstick (optional)
• an example of the electromagnetic spectrum

Study the example of the electromagnetic spectrum. Write the names of the different types of radiation from left to right across the center of the paper in order of size of wavelength: Radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays, and gamma rays. Then have the children add information to the chart under each type as you learn more doing the activities.

2. What is a wave?

You may have read that light and its relatives travel in waves. What does that mean?

Think about physical waves, like the waves in the ocean or sound waves. Electromagnetic waves exhibit a similar motion.

Check this very fun interactive website to see how you can vary the wave with different motions. Then give it a try. Gather a jump rope or other heavy rope. Have two children hold each end to the rope tightly. Now have one move the rope up and down while the other stays still. Can you create a wave motion? What happens when you speed up or slow down? How about if you move your arm higher or less?

Find out more about electromagnetic waves at NASA.

Now we will look at different types of electromagnetic radiation, starting at the radio waves, which have the largest wavelength and low energy, to gamma rays, which have the smallest wavelength and highest energy.

3. Radio waves

Have you ever wondered how radios work? How does electricity and sound waves become transmitted through the air via radio waves?

How Radios Work from NPR

Radio Wave Lesson Plans

Radio waves at NASA

Control a radio telescope from the classroom

Currently the largest telescope to detect radio waves from space is the Arecibo Radio Telescope in Puerto Rico.

Studying the electromagnetic spectrum helps us understand more about astronomy, as well as other fields like communication and medicine and it is really too much for a single post. I will link to posts about microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, x-rays and gamma rays as they are published.

Edit: Part 2 is now published.

Our books today:

Earth Space and Beyond: What Do We Know About Stars & Galaxies? by John Farndon

Hardcover: 48 pages
Publisher: Raintree
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1406226289
ISBN-13: 978-1406226287

What Do We Know About Stars & Galaxies? Express version by John Farndon

Reading level: 3 (simpler version for younger children)
Library Binding: 48 pages
Publisher: Heinemann-Raintree (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1410941620
ISBN-13: 978-1410941626

Milky Way and Other Galaxies (The Solar System and Beyond) by Megan Kopp

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Capstone Press (August 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1429672277
ISBN-13: 978-1429672276

Books were supplied by the publisher for review purposes.

Now is the time to start planning for those science fair projects. If you child or teen is interested in science, there are a number of options for participating. Let’s take a look at a few.

The first place to check for science fairs is your local school, school district or homeschool organization. Many middle school science classes now require students take part in a school science fair, selecting winners to send on to the regional or state competitions (see resource list link at bottom).

If you can’t find any options, don’t worry. Many of the regional and state competitions will accept individual projects. My son’s elementary school did not offer a science fair, but he did a project and went to the state science fair anyway. (He did have to take a day off from school.) Or consider the Google Science Fair (below).

The affiliated state and regional science fairs then send winners on to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair mentioned in the book. This page has a search box to help you find nearby Intel ISEF affiliated science fairs.

Are you a high school senior? The deadline for the Siemens competition entries is coming up fast: October 3, 2011.  If you are not a senior, you can still participate as part of a team project. (More  about the types and amounts of scholarships Siemens offers.)

Discovery Education/3M also have what they call the Young Scientist Challenge for students in grades 5-8. Although the 2011 challenge is already concluded, be on the lookout for information for 2012.

For grades 6-8, you also might want to look into the Broadcom Masters Competition.  Once again, you must participate in an affiliated science fair and then be nominated to go to the Broadcom Masters.

Live in Canada? Check the Youth Science Canada website for tons of information.

The Google Global Science Fair is open to whoever wants to create a website and enter their project.   Both of those would be completed next spring (2012), but if you go to the website now you can sign up for an e-mail reminder to be sent when registration starts.

You can’t help but feel the excitement in this video about last year’s finalists.

Not sure you want to do a research project but still interested in science? One of our friends takes part in the National Science Bowl, a Jeopardy-style competition for teams.

We would love to hear about your science fair experiences!

Places to find out more about science fairs and get ideas for projects:

Enormous list of regional, state and national science fairs

Archimedes Project has videos of more than 50 science fair students giving advice

Science Buddies is a huge resource of ideas and information

Discovery Education has Science Fair Central

And let’s not forget, the Experiment List here at Growing With Science might give you a few ideas

Aston and Long have collaborated on two other wonderful books, A Egg is Quiet and A Seed is Sleepy. If you are familiar with those books, you will know to expect extraordinary illustrations and accurate, age-appropriate information written in lyrical text. In this book all about butterflies, they have outdone even themselves. A Butterfly Is Patient is definitely inspiring!

Activities to learn more about butterflies:

1. Study Caterpillar and Butterfly Anatomy

Have you ever spent time actually studying the parts of a caterpillar or butterfly? I know, it may be hard to look past the bright colors and beauty, but studying how these animals go together helps you appreciate them in a different way.

Try to find a smooth caterpillar like this tobacco hornworm (some of the fuzzy or spiky ones have stinging hairs, so don’t pick up those.) Gently coax it onto a leaf or stem where you can observe it with a hand lens. See if you can find the following organs and structures.

In this side view of a moth caterpillar, we can see the thorax (the three segments right behind the head), and the abdomen quite clearly. The thorax is where we find the six true legs, which are the identifying characteristics of insects. What are those fleshy appendages on the abdomen, aren’t those legs? From a scientific perspective, those are not true legs, but are called prolegs. They are used for walking and clinging to leaves just like legs, but they lack the joints of a true leg.  As you will see, the adult will have only the true legs.

The small circles on the sides of the caterpillar are spiracles, the openings through the insect’s exoskeleton that allow it to take in air.

In this view, we can see the caterpillar’s head. At the bottom of the head are the mandibles, the pruning scissor-like jaws that it uses to cut food. Slightly above and to the side of the jaws are the ocelli, which are simple eye spots. The caterpillar probably doesn’t see much with those tiny spots, maybe only whether it is light or dark out. This photograph shows a better view of the jointed legs.

After the caterpillar transforms into a pupa and then a butterfly, we see different structures.

What a transformation!

Instead of tiny ocelli on its head, the butterfly has large compound eyes. The mouth has become a long tube for sucking nectar from flowers (some butterflies actually lack a mouth altogether). There were antennal buds on the head of the caterpillar, but now the butterfly has full blown antennae.

The true legs are long and delicate and the prolegs are gone. Attached to the thorax are the wings. If you read a book about how to identify butterflies, it will probably describe markings on the upper or forewings, or the lower hind wings. The raised structures in the wings, called wing veins, are also important for identification.

Can you find the mouthparts and the spiracles on this giant swallowtail butterfly?

Activity 2. Butterfly Life Cycle

Butterflies go through a complex series of changes during the life cycle, a process called complete metamorphosis.

Let’s explore the life cycle of the queen butterfly, and then make a poster.

The queen butterfly starts out life as an egg laid by the female butterfly on a milkweed plant.

A caterpillar emerges from the egg, and begins to feed on the plant.

When it has reached its full size, the caterpillar transforms into a chrysalis.

After a week or so, out comes the adult butterfly.

Use this information to prepare a butterfly life cycle poster, perhaps like this one from Enchanted Learning.

For more photographs, try these related posts:

• Butterfly eggs
• Butterfly larvae or caterpillars
• Chrysalises
• The Queen butterfly emerges

Activity 3. Raise a butterfly or moth

At some point in their childhood, most budding scientists raise a caterpillar to find out what it turns out to be.

• You might want to start with silkworms, which can be raised on an artificial diet or mulberry leaves.
• Learn the ins and outs of raising caterpillars.

Activity 4. Make a colorful coffee filter butterfly craft here at Growing With Science

Activity 5. Butterfly gardening

It is amazing that you can bring butterflies into your yard by planting a few special plants. You can then watch the life cycles in a more natural setting.

Some butterfly favorite plants are:

• milkweeds (monarchs, queens)
• lantana
• butterfly bush
• ageratum (attracts male queen butterflies)
• dill, fennel or parsley (swallowtails)
• hollyhocks (painted lady)
• passion flower (fritillaries)

For more ideas, see our  butterfly gardening post.

Monarch Watch has lesson plans, a ton of information about monarchs, and ideas for more activities.

And don’t forget to read some books about butterflies, including A Butterfly Is Patient by Dianna Hutts Aston

A Seed Is Sleepy

An Egg Is Quiet

This book was provided for review purposes.