Week 3 Blog Post

 

What did you learn this week?

This week in lab we learned about the life cycles of different insects, animals, and plants. One life cycle we learned about was the life cycle of a butterfly. The stages are: 1. egg, 2. caterpillar (larva), 3. chrysalis (pupa), and 4. adult butterfly.  In our table groups we chose a life cycle that we wanted to portray with playdough. My group chose the life cycle of a turtle. The life cycle goes: 1. eggs, 2. hatchlings, 3. juveniles, and 4. adult. We also did some planting this week that we will be able to watch and see how it changes over time. 

Are you able to relate what you learned to what you already knew?

I can relate what we learned in lab this week about life cycles to what I learned in elementary school about life cycles. I remember focusing on the life cycle of a butterfly in elementary school. One way they taught us the life cycle of a butterfly was by reading the story of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". The book started off by showing an egg that soon became a caterpillar. It then shows the caterpillar eating lots and lots of food and then turning into a chrysalis. The book ends with him breaking out of the chrysalis and becoming a butterfly. 

How can you apply what you've learned to your teaching in the future?

I really enjoyed using the playdough to show the stages of life cycles. This is definitely an activity that I will bring into my future classroom as it allows the students to be creative as well as work as a team. I think playdough is something that can be used for many different topics so I will make sure to keep playdough in my classroom to make lots of fun and engaging activities.