Lesson Summary Begin by allowing students time to observe the caterpillars, focusing the body parts of a caterpillar.  Encourage students to talk with each other about what they are seeing.  A student who has a resting caterpillar should work with a partner who has an active caterpillar.  Discuss what they have learned by observing their caterpillar.  Introduce caterpillar body part vocabulary along with discussion.  Refer back to the chart you created in Lesson 1 and look for questions that have been answered.  Students label a caterpillar by matching body parts and their names. Students also determine what each part is used for.  Students make predictions about how the caterpillars may change by the next science lesson.  Teacher Background Many changes are occurring in the cup.  The caterpillars will begin molting (shedding their skins) several times throughout the next couple of weeks.   You will need to know all of the caterpillar body parts.   The caterpillar’s head has 12 small simple eyes, six on each side of the head.  Students should be able to observe some of the eyes when using a hand lens.  The mouth of a caterpillar moves back and forth rather than up and down, like a humans.  The caterpillar’s body is divided into thirteen segments or parts.  Caterpillars have three sets of true legs located on the first three segments of the caterpillar’s body.  The true legs will later become the butterfly’s legs.  Five segments at the rear of the caterpillar contain the prolegs or “false legs”.  These legs help the caterpillar crawl.  The caterpillar is covered with bristles on the top to help provide protection from predators.  Along each side of the body is a row of small breathing holes called spiracles.  The little green pellets left in the bottom of the cups is the caterpillar’s waste, which is also called frass. When a caterpillar moves its head back and forth it a rhythmic pattern, it is spinning silk.  Set-up/Management Tips Plan to teach this lesson during the second week of the caterpillars’ arrival. Lesson 4, 5, and 6 can be switched around and taught in a different order. Observe the caterpillars to see what is occurring.  Teach the lesson(s) that is most applicable to the actions of the caterpillars.  Look for activity that could lead to “in the moment” teaching, if possible.  For example, if the caterpillar is spinning silk, it would be a good time to skip to Lesson 6: Spinning Silk.  All lessons will eventually be taught.  Many times students will ask questions about their caterpillar cup, thus prompting a change in that day’s schedule/plans to better meet the needs of the students. Create a bulletin board and/or transparency showcasing the different parts of a caterpillar.  Use this when introducing the parts of the caterpillar to the students.  Figure 4-2 in the teacher’s manual can be enlarged and used as a transparency for classroom discussion. Figure 4-1 is useful when discussing the caterpillar’s head, especially since these are parts that students will most likely not see by observing their caterpillar. Invite students to make a prediction about how the caterpillars may change by the next lesson. Consider creating a caterpillar model using food items to help students learn the body parts of a caterpillar.  Use your imagination, marshmallows make nice segments, licorice makes great true legs, and macaroni makes great prolegs!  If you choose to do the caterpillar model extension, send home a note asking for families to donate items you need. Students will often say that they think their caterpillar has died.  Encourage them to watch their caterpillar for movement over the next day.  Caterpillars often will eat a lot and then sleep a lot.  Often the motionless being observed in the cup is actually the caterpillar sleeping after eating so much! Literacy Support There are currently no VAST Mediagraphies listed for this unit.  Scientific Vocabulary The following words are key vocabulary words that will be introduced in this lesson and reinforced throughout the unit: simple eyes head prolegs spiracles frass antennae true legs bristles eye segment