Teachers learn about
butterflies
A painted lady butterfly
delicately beat its
paper-thin wings against the
side of a mesh cage.A few
feet away, second-grade
teachers glue leaves and
pasta onto paper plates.
They are creating a model of
the butterfly's life cycle
as part of the Alabama
Hands-On Activity Science
Program's workshop.
"You always learn more
when you do it," said
ALAHASP co-director Joan
Dawson.
ALAHASP is a statewide
science reform effort that
provides understanding and
practice of inquiry-based
teaching and learning.
Twenty teachers from the
Selma City School system
visited Meadowview
Elementary School's science
lab Tuesday to learn about
the life cycle of
butterflies. Later this
spring, the teachers will
teach their students what
they learned.
Each student will also
nurture a caterpillar until
it hatches into a butterfly.
The teachers will plan the
lesson so the students will
release their butterflies on
Save the Butterfly Day.
"They look forward to
it," Leigh Chappelle said.
"They cannot wait for them
to get out and fly."
Chappelle teaches second
grade students at Knox
Elementary School. She said
the students could not wait
to see how their butterfly
has progressed each day. The
students receive a small,
plastic cup with a tiny,
brown caterpillar and some
butterfly food inside.
Next, the caterpillar
will spin silk and attach
itself upside down inside a
cocoon. After it forms a
hard shell, the teacher
removes it and places it
inside a cylinder shaped
mesh cage.
"The painted lady
butterfly will emerge,"
Dawson said.
The butterflies remain
inside the cage feeding off
a yellow sponge soaked with
sugar water until time to
release them. By this time,
the students have developed
an attachment to the small
insects.
"It's sad, too,"
Chappelle said.
The previous weeks of
hands-on learning usually
outweighs the sadness
though. During the lesson,
students draw pictures,
write poems, sing songs and
perform other activities as
the caterpillar progresses
into a butterfly. Dawson
said it teaches the students
to see scientists as more
than just people in white
lab coats.
"They are scientists,"
she said. "They are keeping
records, researching."
The teachers learn to be
scientists, too. During the
workshop, they learn about
each stage of the
butterfly's life cycle,
perform activities and gain
experience handling the
caterpillars, cocoons and
butterflies. While it can be
tedious work, the teachers
enjoy the process just as
much as the students.
"This is one of the
favorites of the teachers
because everybody likes
butterflies," Dawson said.
By Caleb R. Johnson |
Selma Times-Journal
Published Tuesday, February
3, 2009 |
