Butterflies
 http://everydaylearning.handinhandhomeschool.com/butterflies/

Butterflies

Posted on April 20, 2012 by admin

Your kids already know some of the basic facts about the life cycle of the butterfly and how you should never touch their wings. Take your love for butterflies a step further with some new learning ideas.

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How You Can Explore the Day:

1. Science:
   Begin your butterfly exploration with the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Discovery Game. You’ll find some basic facts and then your kids can use the free online interactive to create their own butterfly. The neat part about this learning tool is that after they get to mix and match body shape, wing shape and color pattern, they’ll see how it matches up to one of 20,000 real butterfly species.
    
2. Science:
   Migration or hibernation? The University of Minnesota’s MonarchLab offers some of the most kid-friendly explanations about butterfly migration. As you read about the butterfly’s sun compass behavior, get your own magnetic compass out for a bit of orienteering with your kids.
     Of course, not all butterflies leave their habitat for the winter. Most of them hibernate, much like a bear. The Butterfly Lab is not that kid-friendly of a site but it will help you learn some basic facts about hibernation behaviors and butterflies.
3. Geography:
   Monarchs are known for their migratory flights from Canada to Mexico. Grab a map and identify these countries. Better yet, visit the Monarch Migration website and use their historic data to track migratory patterns. Poke around the site because they have excellent images, activity ideas, and science journaling prompts to help your budding naturalist think like a scientist.
    
4. Science and Latin:
   Butterflies belong to the scientific order Lepidoptera. Help your kids be a word sleuth and break down what it means. Hint: It’s two words, lepido and ptera.
     Start with this Wikipedia chart of Latin and Greek root words commonly used in scientific names. Brainstorm other animals that may have scales and wings. Do they share the same Latin root words? (Think about certain dinosaurs and snakes.) Print out pictures of different animals and organize them in ways that show how they are similar and how they are different.

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Butterflies Posted on April 20, 2012 by admin Your kids already know some of the basic facts about the life cycle of the butterfly and how you should never touch their wings. Take your love for butterflies a step further with some new learning ideas. How You Can Explore the Day: 1. Science: Begin your butterfly exploration with the Florida Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Discovery Game. You’ll find some basic facts and then your kids can use the free online interactive to create their own butterfly. The neat part about this learning tool is that after they get to mix and match body shape, wing shape and color pattern, they’ll see how it matches up to one of 20,000 real butterfly species. 2. Science: Migration or hibernation? The University of Minnesota’s MonarchLab offers some of the most kid-friendly explanations about butterfly migration. As you read about the butterfly’s sun compass behavior, get your own magnetic compass out for a bit of orienteering with your kids. Of course, not all butterflies leave their habitat for the winter. Most of them hibernate, much like a bear. The Butterfly Lab is not that kid-friendly of a site but it will help you learn some basic facts about hibernation behaviors and butterflies. 3. Geography: Monarchs are known for their migratory flights from Canada to Mexico. Grab a map and identify these countries. Better yet, visit the Monarch Migration website and use their historic data to track migratory patterns. Poke around the site because they have excellent images, activity ideas, and science journaling prompts to help your budding naturalist think like a scientist. 4. Science and Latin: Butterflies belong to the scientific order Lepidoptera. Help your kids be a word sleuth and break down what it means. Hint: It’s two words, lepido and ptera. Start with this Wikipedia chart of Latin and Greek root words commonly used in scientific names. Brainstorm other animals that may have scales and wings. Do they share the same Latin root words? (Think about certain dinosaurs and snakes.) Print out pictures of different animals and organize them in ways that show how they are similar and how they are different.