Butterflies are Out!

Our butterflies have come out of their chrysalis! We actually saw 2 of them nibble their way out, just this morning! Our life cycle is complete and we are so happy to have them.

Fun Fact: A caterpillar's body completely dissolves inside the chrysalis. They will basically get "put back together" as a butterfly, with pigment to dye the scales on their wings. That is the red stuff you see on the white disc.

Fun Fact: We will feed our butterflies the juice from a Cutie until we let them go in the wild. They love to eat everything from flower nectar, to rotten fruit, to turtle tears!

The metamorphosis of a butterfly, ladybug, and even honey bees is incredible. A true demonstration of life itself. It is always a great day to see my students see a butterfly emerge. 

Your child has brought home their Butterfly Observation Journal. Take a few minutes to talk to them about it and how amazing butterflies truly are.

Earth(worm) Day!

On Friday, we celebrated Earth(worm) Day!

This is a fun day where we get to investigate earthworms. We learned about the special job they have and how they are so important to the earth and our garden. One of the amazing books we read was Wonderful Worms by Linda Glaser.

Then the fun part began! We got to get up close and personal with some real earthworms! Because Kindergarten already had a worm house, we had the worms visit us for a couple of days.

 Bella was extra brave during her investigation!

 Avery and his worm got along just fine. 

After we had a little time to get to know each other, each student did an investigation page. Then we tallied our responses. Needless to say, most of the worms were slimy, wiggly, and long.

Today we made Worms in Dirt!

If you don't already know, Worms in Dirt is chocolate pudding and crushed chocolate cookies to make the soil. Then we put in gummy worms. (No one wanted the real worms in their cup, go figure!)

Ladybug Time!

We have been studying the life cycle of a ladybug this week! We have watched them change from small larvae to big  larvae and they are now in their pupa.

Ladybug Larvae

Ladybugs in their pupa.

Ladybug Art

Butterfly, Butterfly! (a song for kids about the butterfly life cycle)

Caterpillar to Chrysalis

Our caterpillars are changing into their chrysalis today! Take a look:

Little Carrots Bunny

With Easter coming up fast, I thought I would post a craft that I do with my Kinders every year. This craft would work with any elementary grade, too. His name is Little Carrots and my kids just love him. Click on the image to download the template.

Available for free on my TpT Store.

Learning About Our Food

We began our garden unit by discussing where our food comes from and all of the different types of food. We discussed food groups, portion control, and what is healthy and not healthy. Here are a few of our activities:

 The Food Pyramid

We learned about the different food groups we should be eating at each meal. 

We discussed where we get our food. Answers varied from restaurant to grocery store to garden at their own house. 

We learned where food is grown and how important farms are to everyone. 

We read the story Tops and Bottoms by Janet Stevens. This funny book is about a Hare who tricks a Bear into harvesting either the tops or bottoms of the plants. Of course, the tricky Hare gets to choose the plants!

We sorted our fruits and veggies into where they grow. 

This week we are building our knowledge about food so that we can actually grow a garden together!

All of these activities can be found in  

My Science Journal: Growing My Food in my TpT Store.

Butterfly Observation

Each year my Kinders observe metamorphosis right before their eyes! We watch caterpillars change to butterflies and Ladybug larvae change into ladybugs. We are still in the caterpillar stage and are documenting all of our observations. I thought I would post a FREEBIE of our journals.

Caterpillars Day 5

My Science Journal: Growing My Food

Spring Science is here!

My school has really embraced Inquiry-Based Learning and the idea of giving kids the opportunity to learn about things that benefit our community. One of the biggest projects on our campus is a school garden. We have vegetables, flowers, chickens, geese, ducks, hummingbirds, quails and even goats! The garden is run by 3rd grade students, but is assisted by all of the other grades. As an outreach to the little ones, we have partnered with the Tractor Supply Store and are working to have every grade level learn how to grow their own food!

Adapting big projects so that little hands can participate is one of my favorite parts of being a teacher. My newest unit is just that... Growing My Food. Take a look.

We are just beginning this unit, so I will keep you updated on our adventure into farming!