Term 3 in the Prep Boys’ class is all about Life Cycles. We specifically look at Plants, Chickens, Frogs and Butterflies. In conjunction with our Literature Unit on The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle, we have been lucky enough to be able to observe the life cycle of a butterfly first hand. We began the term with 6 Monarch Butterfly caterpillars munching on the leaves of a Swan plant. By 8.30am on the first day, the boys noticed that one of the caterpillars had curled its’ tail up and attached to a branch and another had attached to the glass wall of the terrarium. We went off to assembly and were absolutely amazed when we got back to see one of the caterpillars developing into a cocoon, right before our very eyes! The boys thought it looked like he was crawling into a sleeping bag! Within a couple of minutes the caterpillar was completely encased in his green cocoon. Needless to say, I was delighted that the timing of this incredible process occurred during class time and not in the middle of the night! The boys were very eager to share the caterpillars’ development with Mr Fry and invited him to pop in and have a look. The boys have used their observations as a springboard for their own books based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar, where they had to replace the word ‘caterpillar’ with their own character. We have everything from The Very Hungry Dimetrodon to The Very Hungry Pug! We are now all keenly watching and waiting for the next step in our caterpillars’ life cycle. If you are passing through the Boys’ Junior School feel free to call in and have a look.
by Claire MacDonald, Boys’ Prep Classroom Teacher
