Science Project Day 24

As the week passed, our cat Bouncer had played with the net and injured one of our three butterflies...who has since died. We decided to set the surviving two butterflies free -

The one we were watching closely died. The fifth cocoon still has not hatched. I am watching it daily, but no changes and I am wondering if that one has died too, although it is still in the net.

As we were setting it, one butterfly landed on Noah's leg, but I caught the picture as the butterfly went to the ground. I am not much of a gardener - but if you look closely in the dirt the butterfly is there, closed in one image. The other has his wings open.

Unless that other cocoon/ butterfly comes out. This will be it for this particular Science project! I will post different projects as we do them. Thank you for tuning in to see the changes! I am glad you enjoyed them.

Have a blessed day!

Science Project Day 17

Not a lot has happened! The other two cocoons have not done much yet...I am wondering if the one has died. There has been no movement.

These are some different shots of the three butterflies that have come out of thier cocoons.








Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!

Science Project Day 16

Ok! First of all, I apologize I am so far behind in this!!! These pictures were taken on the actual days, but have been left in my files until now!

When we woke up this morning, 08/01 three of our butterflies had come out of their cocoons.

Here is a close up of one of them...

Thank you for looking! Have a great day!

Science Project Day 15

I am sorry, the past few days have been a whirl wind around here! I have been taking my Dad to physical therapy several times a week and with my announcement, contacting customers, etc. Life has been FULL! I have been taking pictures, just haven't had time to post them here...until now!!!

Remember the caterpillar-butterfly from a few days ago? Well, he STILL hasn't hatched but when we woke up Wednesday morning 2 others had come out of their cocoon! My children were thrilled. There are 2 pupa that remain in their cocoons. The on is still alive and is wiggling to get free, but it has now been 4 days and no progress has been made, so I am wondering if he will survive.

Funny how a small little creature can get me concerned? I look in on him often and my flesh wants to help free him, but I know part of the struggle will help him in his survival.

If you notice on the top photograph, the one cocoon has a red bead of fluid on the top. This is something they secrete...my 6 year old tells me it is a red drop of liqiod form the wings and this is what gives them their color. Hmmm. I do not recall reading that anywhere.

There are a few pictures of our THREE butterflies...we are still waiting for two to come out.

Thank you for stopping by! Be on the look out for BLOG CANDY this week!

Science Project Day 14

Here is our first butterfly that hatched from its cocoon - its wings have hardened and it has flown around the net area we have for them...
















Do you see the butterfly? This one gets tired out easily. It has been fascinating to watch. He struggles for awhile, wiggling around - it has been a good experience to talk to the children about how these butterflies would die if we help them out of the cocoon. Through this struggle they build their strength to be able to survive.

I think it is amazing that just like us as humans - we grow through adversity and as we go through difficult times we get stronger - in our faith and in our ability to work through other opportunities of character growth! (I always tell my children that this is a character building opportunity in those moments of unsavory behavior. LOL) - the butterfly gets stronger and can only survive through that struggle to get out of the cocoon.

Anyways, God is GOOD! This butterfly did NOT hatch last night, and we have been able to watch this entire process very slowly through out our day today.



Here are a few other angles. I will take more pictures this evening to see where this butterfly is in the hatching process so you can see what we see!















If you look closely here - you can see on the one chrysalus the butterfly's attenae - he moves that around and is pushing to get out.








Thank you for stopping by! Have a nice evening!

Science Project Day 13

Today, I pretty much ignored the net. I had sooo much to do I didn't even pay any attention to the Cocoons.

Tonight, I went into the kitchen around 4:30 p.m. to make dinner. I saw something MOVE in the net. I was like "HUH!?"

One of our butterflies had hatched!!! The first few pictures were before the Painted Lady Butterfly had pumped it's wings. Once it pumped its wings to get the fluid flowing and "fluff" up a bit, he seemed to gather more color.

The books told us to mix 3 tsp. of sugar with one cup of water and soak flower petals inside or make them like dew drops and lay on the bottom of the butterfly hut, so we did that.

This final picture is after the butterfly had eaten. More color seems to be coming into the butterfly as the hours have passed.

If you look closely at the pictures with the other cocoons, there is one hatching or coming out of the cocoon.

We will take pictures as often as we can - before bed and first thing in the morning of the cocoon that is hatching. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see the next butterfly!

Have a wonderful evening!

Science Project Day 11

I skipped a day, because I didn't think it would be too exciting to look at a cocoon on Day Two. But here is a picture from yesterday of the cocoons on Day 3. I will still take daily pictures, because it looks like they are changing - in color and texture.

I asked my husband to take pictures, and he only took one. So today I will take some more at different angles.

Science Project Day 9

All Caterpillars are now in there chrysalus's. There are several close ups of them.

Chrysalis (pupa): When the caterpillar has grown to the right size, it pupates. It hangs upside-down from a leaf or branch, and attaches itself with a single silken string. An adult forms from the caterpillar, whose internal structure changes completely. The chrysalis becomes almost transparent when the butterfly is about to emerge. An adult will emerge about 7 to 10 days after the chrysalis has formed.

On the LEFT is the container the caterpillars were in. There is their shedded skins in there too. Those are the black remains.

























Thank you for stopping by! Have a wonderful evening!

Science Project Day 7

This morning, when we woke 2 caterpillars were in position to go into the Pupa Stage. This picture was taken at 11 a.m.

By 3:00 p.m., one of the caterpillars was in his cocoon and the other had shed his skin and was preparing to go into his cocoon.

Noah and Grace were so EXCITED they wanted their pictures taken with the caterpillars. LOL

By 6 p.m., the last caterpillar was fully into his cocoon.

I will take daily pictures but it will be approximately 14 days until the butterfly emerges. In the meanwhile...keep an eye out for more details!

Thank you for stopping by!

Science Project Day 6

Houston...we have chrysalis...

This morning as we got ready for church we had 3 caterpillars hanging upside down -wiggling a lot. The three children were so excited because they were SURE that the caterpillars were in their cocoons...they weren't.

This afternoon around 4:30 - the three caterpillars were in cocoons. The three were squealing with delight! My 6 yo said, "I ammmm soooooooo happppyyyyyy." I do not remember when something like that made me soooo happppyyyy....I guess I am getting old.

It is now around 9:30 and the other 2 caterpillars are heading to the top to hang upside down. I anticipate by tomorrow they will both be in their chrysalis'.

Looks like my 8 yo son was right. He said that they would be in their cocoons before my birthday.

Have a nice evening! Thank you for stopping by!

Science Project Day 5

The caterpillars have eaten most of the food in the container. Today, they seem to be more active than I have seen them all week. Two of them have moved the the top and seem to be wiggling a bit more. Makes me wonder if they are beginning to spin their cocoon? We will find out tomorrow!

Have a great weekend and enjoy your Sunday!

Science Project Day 4

These caterpillars are growing and growing and eating and eating! They have more than doubled their size!

Science Project Day 3

Our caterpillars are growing some more. They are shedding their skin, and I need to clean out their container of the webbing that is being released.

All they do is eat and GROW! :)

Science Project Day 2

These caterpillar pictures were taken yesterday (actual day 2) and have doubled in size.

I can not believe how FAST these things are growing. I need to take pictures TODAY for Day 3 and you will see how much they have grown (MORE!)

I can't wait to see how pretty they will be once changed into a butterfly...because they are not very pretty as a caterpillar. It reminds me of how we are changed more into HIS (Jesus Christs') image the more we seek Him and His will.

Ok...to clean up my stamping mess. I need a cleaning person to help me organize. Organization does NOT come easy for me. I am working on it. :)

Have a great day!

Science Experiment - Day One

My children and I are doing a Science experiment and a Unit Study on Butterflies this summer.

I will keep an online diary of it here, every day with details my children found out about it. Then I will have them make a lap book too and once that is complete I will share the pictures of that!

This was a kit we bought from an infomercial.
These caterpillars will double their size every day. Then they will form into a chrysalis and in time they will turn into butterflies.

I think these things are UGLY. My son thinks they are CUTE. He would. Last summer we did tad poles and now we have 3 large slimy frogs. I think those things are disgusting. They go flat when they are out of their water.

Yes, in case you were wondering, I am crazy. LOL Thank you for stopping by. I have more to post (not caterpillars either), so keep an eye out for more....