Thursday, 22 May 2014

What do caterpillars eat?


While playing and exploring in the forest this morning, Molly found a caterpillar. As soon as Jason noticed the caterpillar in Molly's hand, he raised the following question:

"What do caterpillars eat?"

In order to help answer this inquiry, we brought Fuzzy (Molly chose his name), the caterpillar, back to school and placed him in a container.

Jason "What if he misses his friends from the forest?" 
Trystan "He needs some leaves so he can survive"

We made a chart and listed some food that the children predicted Fuzzy might eat. 

Maddi "Caterpillars eat leaves. They do. I saw holes in a leaf."
 
Bela "Leaves. Look, the caterpillar is trying to find some water."
Roy "Caterpillars drink water and eat something crunchy. Yellow leaves." 
Trystan "Leaves. Red leaves." 
Jason "Maybe they eat caterpillar food.... like yellow leaves." 
Sofia "Fresh, green leaves. And yellow, and brown...." 


After jotting all these ideas down, we decided to go to the forest to collect everything needed to make Fuzzy feel at home. 

Sofia "Let's bring some leaves. Maybe Fuzzy will eat them or use them as a place to rest."
Maddi "...and dirt, for when he wants to hide." 
Trystan "...and sticks, in case he wants to have fun and climb."

As a group, we reached an agreement: we will try to care for Fuzzy and make him feel like he is in his natural surroundings. Fuzzy will be released after he turns into a butterfly. This process will give the children a better understanding of the life cycle of a caterpillar.

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