Geneva College

Beaver Falls, PA

Science Lesson Plan

Name: Kelsey McFarland Date: 4/8/21

Subject: Science Grade Level: 1st Grade

I. Topic
Butterflies: Learn about the life cycle of a butterfly and several facts about butterflies.

II. PA or Common Core Standards

3.1.1.A2 Investigate the dependence of living things on the sun’s energy, water, food/nutrients, air, living space,
and shelter.
3.1.1.C3 CONSTANCY AND CHANGE Describe changes that occur as a result of habitat.

III. Learning Objectives: Objectives must be written using observable verbs

TSWBAT name the four stages of the life cycle of a butterfly.
TSWBAT describe the four stages of the life cycle of a butterfly.
TSWBAT explain a butterfly’s needs and dependence on the environment.

IV. Materials
• Butterfly PowerPoint
• Butterfly video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVm5k99PnBk
• Life cycle coloring sheet
• Paper plates
• Small clothespins
• Tissue paper- pink, blue, green
• Pipe cleaners
• Sticks
• Glue
• Gems
• Crayons
• Butterfly kahoot- https://create.kahoot.it/details/beb978be-bc13-478b-b1ba-2f605adad80b

V. Lesson Development
A. Introduction
Pull up the butterfly PowerPoint by screensharing to the Smart Board. What are butterflies? Click to the
second slide. Is it a stick of butter with wings? Allow students to answer. What do you know about
butterflies? Call on a few students to share what they already know. Raise your hand if you have ever
seen a butterfly in person. Click to the butterfly facts slide. Here are a few things about butterflies.
Read through the facts. Point out any facts the students might have already known. We are going to
learn about about the life cycle of a butterfly. What is a life cycle? Allow students to give answers. A
life cycle is the changes in the life of an animal or insect.
B. Lesson development (activities, procedures)
A butterfly starts off as an egg. Where do butterflies lay their eggs? (on leaves). Their eggs are very
small. They lay their eggs in March and April. You could look at the leaves outside and see if there are
any butterfly eggs on them. What do these eggs hatch into? (caterpillars). The scientific name for
caterpillars is larvae, but their common name is caterpillars. What do caterpillars eat? (leaves).
Caterpillars first eat the leaf they were hatched on! They eat a lot during this stage. After eating and
eating, what stage do you think is next? Allow students to answer. The third stage is the Chrysalis or
sometimes it is called the Pupa. Who can tell me what this word says? Or what it might mean? Point
to the word ‘metamorphosis’ and ask students if they know the word. Metamorphosis is where an
insect changes from its young stage into the adult stage. During this stage, the caterpillar turns itself
into this cocoon to go through metamorphosis. What do you think the caterpillar is changing into? a
butterfly). Finally, in the fourth stage, the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis. What do butterflies
eat? (flower nectar). Butterflies help pollinate the flowers during the springtime. They also lay more
eggs on the leaves. Here is the full life cycle of the butterfly. Click on the link in the PowerPoint to pull
up the video of the life cycle of a butterfly. Start the video at 0:20 seconds. Let’s watch the life cycle of a
butterfly. Pay attention and see if you can point out all four of the cycles in the video. Notice what
happens in each cycle. Play the video all the way through. What did you notice in the video? Allow
students to share what they noticed.

Pass out the coloring page of the life cycle of a butterfly. This is a coloring page for the life cycle of a
butterfly. Put these into your folders for now. We can color them later if there is time. Now, we are
going to create the life cycle of a butterfly. I am going to pass out some materials so we can make our
own life cycle. Hold up the modeled craft. Notice that I have four sections to my plate for the four
cycles. I labeled the cycles on the plate. You are going to get a plate, one clear gem, a few colored
gems, pink and green tissue paper, sticks, a clothespin, and a pipe cleaner. You are going to make the
Chrysalis and butterfly using the sticks, clothespin, and tissue paper. The clear gem will represent the
egg and the colored gems will be the caterpillar. Notice how my caterpillar has a pattern. You will
make your caterpillar have a pattern. Get out a green crayon and your glue stick. Pass out the paper
plates and gems. On the section that says ‘eggs’ you will draw a green leaf for the egg to sit on. Then
glue the clear gem onto the leaf. What is the next stage in the cycle? (caterpillar). What is the scientific
name for a caterpillar? (larva). Glue your gems in a pattern to make a caterpillar. Pass out the green
tissue paper and sticks. What is the next stage? (chrysalis). What is another name for chrysalis? (pupa).
You are going to wrap the green tissue paper around the ends of the stick. Model wrapping the paper
around the sticks. Take your glue stick and glue the paper on one edge so it stays on the stick. Place
this onto the correct section of your plate. I will come around with the glue to help you glue it to your
plate. Pass out the pipe cleaners, clothespins, and pink or blue tissue paper. Now we are in the final
stage which is… (the butterfly). Take your tissue paper and scrunch it up. Model for students how to
scrunch up the tissue paper and clip it with the clothespin. Then you are going to bend your pipe
cleaner to look like antenna and clip them with the tissue paper. After you create your butterfly, place
it on your plate and I will come around to glue it. While I am gluing these, get out your coloring sheet
and start coloring the life cycle of a butterfly. Walk around and place a little bit of glue on each
student’s plate for the chrysalis and butterfly.
 C. Evidence of differentiated instruction (content, process, product, or learning environment)
Content: The life cycle of a butterfly is presented through multiple learning styles. I will be speaking
about the four stages with a visual representation and a video.

Product: Students are creating the life cycle through the craft and repeatedly exposed to it through the
coloring page. Students are playing a Kahoot to show their understanding. The questions will be read to
students as well as the answer choices.

D. Closure (summary)
If you have not finished coloring, that’s okay but we are going to play a Kahoot. Keep your plates on
your desk so they can dry. Get out your iPads and I will pull up the code. Close out of the PowerPoint
and open up Kahoot. Start the butterfly Kahoot game. Once all of the students are in, start the game.
Read each question aloud to the students and read the answer choices. Keep track of how many
students get the answers correct or incorrect.

VI. Assessment/evaluation
Students will play a Kahoot game with 10 questions about butterflies. Teacher will assess overall understanding
of the life cycle of a butterfly and other facts through the Kahoot questions. Students will share observations of
the life cycle video.

VII. Self-evaluation
The students were actively engaged throughout this lesson. We activated prior knowledge by stating everything
they already knew about butterflies. A few of the students said that they start as a caterpillar, makes a cocoon,
then turns into a butterfly. I walked through the facts about butterflies slide and students raised their hands to
make comments about something they have seen or experienced. I tried to keep the lesson engaging even while
explicitly teaching the students about the life cycle. I asked the students what a life cycle was, and one student
said it’s someone’s life. I said that he was correct and explained how that applied to butterflies. I repeatedly
stated the four steps of the life cycle. I began by introducing them individually and then I displayed the whole
cycle. I explained that a cycle is something that repeats itself and continues over and over again. I showed
students how this is evident in the butterfly’s life cycle. I repeatedly told students the scientific terms for
caterpillar and chrysalis. I played the butterfly life cycle video so students could see an actual butterfly through
the full cycle. I asked students which stage the butterfly was in during the video. I asked students throughout the
lesson what the stages were called. I also reviewed what the caterpillar and butterfly will eat during those
stages. We moved straight into the craft after learning the life cycle and watching the video. I displayed the
model on the Smart Board for students to see. I explained what their first steps were going to be. I showed them
that they were going to draw a leaf with a green crayon on the section of their plate that is labeled ‘eggs’ and
gave them each a clear gem. They glued the gem on the leaf to resemble an egg. I then asked each student to
choose two different colored gems to make their caterpillar. I showed them that they were going to create a
pattern with their two different colored gems on the ‘caterpillar’ section. Then I modeled how to wrap the green
tissue paper around the sticks to create the chrysalis and passed out the materials. The butterfly was a little
more difficult to create. I modeled for students how to fold the tissue paper and clip it with the clothespin to
create their butterfly. They chose which of the four different colored tissue papers to use and were given a pipe
cleaner and clothespin. I walked around and put glue on their plates so students could glue the butterflies down.
I did not have students write their names on the back of the plates before we started, and this is something I
would begin with next time. After students finished their plates, I instructed them to pull out their iPads and get
on Kahoot. I displayed the code and waited until all students joined. I started the game and read the questions
 and answer choices to the students. The students did well with the questions and only struggled with the
scientific terms. I reviewed the answers with them and referred back to what we had just learned. I collected the
student’s plates and taped them onto the back cabinets.
My cooperating teacher helped me pass out materials and wrote the student’s names on the back of their
plates. There were three students who came in at the end of the day and she helped me get these students
caught up on the craft. If there had been more time, I would have prepared QR codes of videos for students to
watch and share with the class. I would have extended this lesson by buying a butterfly kit so the students could
watch a butterfly grow.

Cooperating Teacher Approval ________________________________________