About This Lesson
Use this lesson when teaching about animal life cycles, complete metamorphosis, structures and functions, plant-animal relationships, food webs, habitats, ecosystems, or Texas Gulf Coast wildlife. Students investigate the four major stages of the butterfly life cycle: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis), and adult. Using butterflies found along the Texas Gulf Coast as examples, students examine how a butterfly's body, behavior, food
requirements, and habitat use change throughout its life cycle.
Students then visit the school-owned wetlands to search for evidence of different butterfly life stages. Rather than simply
looking for adult butterflies, students investigate host plants, nectar-producing flowers, caterpillar feeding damage, eggs,
caterpillars, chrysalises, and adult butterfly activity. Students record observations and use evidence from the wetland to determine which parts of the butterfly life cycle they can
document. The investigation emphasizes an important scientific distinction: not observing a life stage does not demonstrate
that the stage is absent from the habitat. All butterflies, caterpillars, eggs, chrysalises, and plants should remain where they are found.
