Students were very excited when they heard that we were releasing the butterflies this morning!! Shortly before Recess we went out to our little garden and put our container onto the bench. All students (who wanted to) got a chance to have a butterfly on their finger.
Most of our larvae had developed into chrysalids and most of those became butterflies. Students put the butterflies onto plants in the garden.
When we had released all the adult butterflies it was time for Recess. We placed the container back in the classroom. We have a few chrysalids which have not changed yet. We are going to give them a few days to see if they will.
Many of the butterflies remained on the flowers in the garden for a while. A few of the students reported seeing other ones flying away to new locations.
There were some that didn’t make it and remained dead on the bottom of the container. We discussed the Circle of Life and why the adult butterfly lays over 100 eggs at a time – not all eggs become caterpillars, not all caterpillars develop chrysalids, not all chrysalids survive to adult butterfly status.
All in all, raising these butterflies has been a great learning experience for the students. I hope they have all enjoyed it.