Rowntree students had a great surprise last spring! We welcomed 48 squiggly caterpillars, as part of our lesson on the Life Cycle of a Butterfly. Our kindergarten students could barely contain their excitement.
Taking care of the caterpillars is what the students did. With the help of the teachers, the 48 new visitors were housed in containers that allowed the curious students to observe their everyday growth.
Teachers, students, and even parents would walk up to the containers and take a peek whenever possible. “Are they really that quiet?” some might even have ventured to ask. And despite the constant intrusion, since students had to clean the containers, the caterpillars did start to grow; bigger, bigger, and bigger.
By the 10th day the caterpillars slowly began attaching themselves to the liner of the lid, and the magic started to happen! The caterpillars started transforming into what is called the chrysalis or as known to students the “butterfly houses”. You can imagine how much more curiosity grew!
Within a week, the covered living creatures began to shake and break free from the safety of their chrysalis. The students’ excitement was electrifying even as the transformation of the cocoon continued on. The butterflies would soon be ready to unfurl their beauty. And so, the day finally came when the cocoons broke wide open and out came beautiful butterflies! This was a thrilling experience for the students to see! The teachers and students took turns administering orange Gatorade to feed the butterflies. Why Gatorade? The liquid is very close to nectar found in flowers.
Butterflies are meant to fly free. We made the release party a special event for the students, and of course, the butterflies. We even invited all of our RMS families to attend and be a part of this special event.
The whole experience was not only an amazing experiment that was part of our Science curriculum, but it also provided everyone a peek through the window of nature’s amazing process. The students said their farewells and without much delay, we released the butterflies into nature’s soft and fleeting breeze.
Similarly, our students will also become beautiful, full grown butterflies one day who will fly out into the world and colour it with their beauty and grace.
We look forward to seeing you and sharing with you the private school community of which we are so proud!
To learn more about Rowntree Montessori Schools (RMS), continue browsing our website and ideally drop by any of our 5 welcoming, friendly and family oriented campuses for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:00am-3:00pm. If you prefer, call to book an appointment for a personal tour anytime Monday-Friday 9:00am-3:00pm.
More details about Rowntree Montessori Schools‘ approach to education can be seen by clicking here.
