Hands on in Kindergarten: Insects, Plants, and Caterpillars
Kindergarten, Diane Hawke and Jen Schultz
In Kindergarten this year our “big idea” is patterns, which we work toward integrating across all of our curricular areas. We studied insects and plants, and in each study, we focused on cycles which repeat themselves and form a pattern.
For our insect study, each child chose an insect they wanted to research independently. The children drew a picture of their insect and labeled its parts. Finally, the children created a clay model of their insect.
We read "Diary of a Worm", a book looking at daily life from the perspective of a worm. Each child created a diary writing daily entries from the perspective of the insect her or she was studying.
As part of the insect study, we also raised caterpillars and watched them go through the cycle of egg-caterpillar–pupa-butterfly. Each child illustrated one part of the cycle.
We also explored plants and seeds this year. We sprouted a bean in a plastic bag. We took apart a plant and looked at its parts. We also took a trip to the Carlsbad Flower Fields, a commercial flower farm. As a class, we created a poster showing the four things a plants needs to grow: water, sun, soil, and air.
Finally, we had a discussion about the parallels between the lifecycles of plants and butterflies.
Here are some of the children’s comments:
They both need food. – Sara
They both need sunlight; the plants needs it to grow and the butterfly needs it to dry its wings. – J.P. and Brooklynn
They both need water. –Cole
They both need air. –Deaven
They both repeat over and over and over again. – Josiah
They both make babies – the butterfly makes a caterpillar and the plant
makes a seed. –Pierce
The plant comes out of the seed shell and the butterfly comes our of
the pupa shell - Casey
