More Buddy-Writing Stories with Tui 1

 Here's a caterpillar life cycle game to play.

A review of this week's garden activities.

This week we have had a significant amount of chrysalises falling to the ground. Mrs Vincent and a few other students have found them. We suspect this could be from handling or from a disease. We do not exactly know why they are falling off – this needs some more research. There are  at-least 11 chrysalises hanging from thread and pegs in 3 separate containers. It is a very delicate process and it is not made for those with shaky hands. Today in the garden, people were trudging through our garden looking for lost cricket  or rugby balls.   As a result result of this, two more chrysalises fell.  Mrs Vincent was not happy about this.

We are still waiting on all of the chrysalises to hatch.  We think some might not make it as they have been dented. Our first chrysalis rescue was on the 26th of March and the most  recent was today at lunchtime. Shayla likes to call her self ‘Nurse Shayla’ as she has rescued many of our chrysalis patients.  She is very careful not to stress the chrysalis.

We have been keeping our eye on the South African ootheca (egg deposit)  that Mrs Vincent found. It has a woven pattern on it. First we identified the species of praying mantis and  decided whether to freeze it or keep it in the container. Some students have personal experiences of an ootheca hatching.

by  Lauren. 

Some of the stories Tui 1 students (Years 3 and 4) wrote with Huia 1 students (Years 7 and 8) :

 

Caterpillars are black, yellow and white. They live in swan plants. They turn into chrysalises and then turn into a butterfly. They can die easily of a disease. Their feet are sticky to hang upside down. Caterpillars are very slow. They hang upside down on a leaf and curl into a j and then it sheds its skin and then it turns into a chrysalis. Butterflies are orange, black and white. Butterflies are able to fly, not like a caterpillars.
 Bridget  and Chloe

The Monach butterfly lays eggs first, then the eggs hatch into caterpillars. 
Next, it hangs  from a leaf and then it turns into a chrysalis. After the monach butterfly emerges, a while later,   it is  ready to fly away. The caterpillars  have pro legs the pro legs are not their real legs. They help them do things and walk . When the butterfly hatches it has a liquid which goes into  its wings to help  them fly and spread them.

by Jupman and Ethan 

 Once upon a time there was a caterpillar. He was looking for food -  a particular type of food.  In fact,  he was looking for swan plants. On his way, he came across some bright colourful flowers and he said to himself, “I’d rather munch on some leaves.” 

After that,  he met an ant, and he asked it, “Where are the swan plants?” 

The ant replied, ”Behind the flowers.”

 So the caterpillar walked behind the flowers and saw a forest of swan plants, and he munched and munched until he turned into a chrysalis.

 by Kyran and Jadev

Once  upon a time there was a caterpillar and he could not wait to be a butterfly. After two weeks had passed, he was turning in to a chrysalis. Then he thought about those times when he was a caterpillar. But then there was a dark chrysalis two trees away from him,  and   he knew it was time to transform into a butterfly.

by Cameron W and Tyree

Caterpillars are sometimes bent and there are heaps of chrysalises in the garden. They hide under sheltered leaves. They turn upside down to make their chrysalises. They wiggle and bounce a lot when they are making it. There is a line of gold around the top just below the cremaster. When they are to hatch you can see inside,  and the butterfly is almost ready to hatch. When they are a butterfly they are orange and black.  The female has thicker webbing compared to the males. If they are a female they lay eggs to start it all over again.

By Lauren and Katy, year 4 Tui1.

Once upon a time there was a caterpillar. It was about to turn in to a chrysalis. Then it saw all the olives on the tree nearby and thought that they were chrysalises. It might have thought that that’s where all the cool caterpillars were. So he made his chrysalis on the olive tree. Then, when he hatched, he saw that the olives didn’t hatch so he flew away.

Danny found this image on this website  where another class are learning about butterflies and caterpillars.

by Danny and Mia

The egg in the garden hatches into a caterpillar which means it has to eat heaps so it will grow. After that he/she has to find a branch so it can turn into a chrysalis. Next it will change into a butterfly. 

When the butterflies  come out, they have to open their wings before they can fly which means they have to pump liquid through their wings.

The butterflies eat nectar from the flowers, but birds do not try to catch them because they taste nasty.

When the weather gets colder, they fly away together. When they get tired they rest on a pine tree. Then the female flies off and finds a male to mate with.

Finally, she flies off and lays her eggs on a milk weed plant. 

Then the butterfly will only live for a few more weeks. However, there are still more eggs that will hatch and go through the same cycle.

By Renae and Jewel