Summary: The students will identify the components of and construct a suitable habitat for the Painted Lady Butterfly and other migrating species of butterflies. The students will then release Painted Lady Butterflies, matured in the classroom, into the prepared habitat and chronicle their life cycle.

Connection to the Curriculum: This module involves mathematical measurements, research, and journal writing as well as scientific investigation. It will also illustrate the concept of plant – insect interactions and life cycles.

TEKS Alignment: 6.1 – 6.5, 6.12 a – c, 6.4 a – b.

Time: 6 class periods, and 15 minutes per week per class, for data collection.

Season: Late winter through spring

Materials:

Painted Lady Life Cycle BioKit

Landscaping Timbers

Reference on wildflowers of your local area

Topsoil

Seeds of selected Nectar Plants for butterflies and Food Plants for larvae

Fencing material (to protect garden and support vines)

Ladybugs (optional)

Birdbath (or some other suitable water source)

Rocks (for butterflies to bask in the sun)

Logs or Butterfly House (to afford a place for certain species to hibernate)

Assorted gardening tools

Objectives:

· Identify species of butterflies that frequent your local area.

· Identify the nutritional needs required by the selected species throughout their life cycles.

· Select nectar and food plants, suitable for the selected species, native to the local area.

· Observe butterflies, in the classroom, as they go through their life cycles to adulthood.

· Research how to create, design, and install a wildlife habitat on their school grounds.

· Design and construct two garden plots, one to accommodate larvae and the other adult butterflies, following the National Wildlife Federation’s guidelines for Schoolyard Habitat Certification.

· Collect and transplant adult plants into a small potion of the plots.

· Germinate appropriate plants in the classroom, and transplant them into the garden plots.

· Introduce adult Painted Lady Butterflies into the prepared habitat.

· Chronicle the plant and insect interactions.

Procedures:

1. The students will research the butterflies of North America and select the species whose migratory patterns include their local area. Their findings must include; the approximate dates the insects visit their area, the reproductive habits of the insects, the nectar flowers favored by the adults of the species and the food plants required by them during their larval stage.

2. The students will research how to create, design, and install a Butterfly Garden. The students will then participate in tilling the soil, partitioning the garden to separate the various plant species to be introduced to the habitat, bordering the garden to discourage the development of undesired species that may compete with their introduced species, and including a water source appropriate for the insects that are intended to inhabit the garden.

3. Invite a guess speaker, who is to instruct the students in methods for transplanting wildflowers during various stages of maturity. The students can then be assigned the task of harvesting appropriate plants and transplanting them into their Schoolyard garden.

4. The students will germinate selected plants in the classroom and then transplant the healthiest plants into the garden.

5. The students using a Painted Lady Life Cycle kit will observe the growth and development of butterflies to maturity. When a significant number of matured nectar plants are present in the prepared habitat they will release the adult butterflies into it and chronicle their interactions for the remainder of the school year.

Questions:

What is an ecosystem?

What is a niche?

What adaptations enable butterflies to survive?

What role does the butterfly play in plant reproduction and visa versa?

What is metamorphosis?

What are the essential elements of a habitat?

Evaluation: A habitat inventory will be conducted by students before and after the garden is completed, so that observations about the impact of the habitat can be analyzed and recorded. Students will compile observations and data in daily journals, and develop a multi-media presentation.

Expanding the Lesson:

Xeriscaping Methods – Hardy local plants used as a water conservation method.

Population density calculation

Predator and Prey relationships

Resources:

Texas A&M University Entomology Educational Outreach http://Insects.tamu.edu/youth/

Cynthia Davis Klemmer, Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Horticultural Sciences

Butterflies of North America (use these keywords for your search and it will take you to the sight.