Second-grade students at Andrews Elementary School and Murphy Elementary School participated in the 4-H school enrichment curriculum, Winged Wonders. All seven classes received one Painted Lady Butterfly kit per classroom.
We had 4 classrooms at Murphy Elementary and 3 classrooms at Andrews Elementary that received their painted lady butterfly larva on Monday, April 25. The 2nd grade classrooms participating at Andrews Elementary were: Mrs. Anderson, Mrs. Hogsed, and Mrs. Forchetti. The 2nd grade classrooms participating at Murphy Elementary were: Mrs. Hickey, Ms. London, Mrs. O’Hara, and Mrs. Garrett.
Second grade students learn about life cycles and were excited to be hatching butterflies. The students observed the larva then transferred the chrysalis’ to the butterfly habitat. Each classroom received: 5 live painted lady caterpillars with food, a butterfly habitat, easy-to-follow instructions, fun activities for elementary-aged students, and a 24 x 24″ poster.
The butterflies at Andrews Elementary were released on the morning of May 18th onto some beautiful rose bushes at the school. It was a cool morning so they were happy to hang out on the beautiful roses while the air warmed up.
At Murphy Elementary, we released their butterflies on the warm afternoon of May 18th in the grass playground area covered with clover. Some butterflies took flight while others went from clover to clover drinking nectar and pollinating the grass.
On release day the students got to even see some of the butterflies drinking nectar with their proboscis. I had never seen a butterfly unroll its proboscis until this experience and it was pretty amazing!
If you would like to know more about this curriculum or any of our 4-H curriculum or you are a teacher and would like more information about 4-H school enrichment curriculum contact Cherokee County 4-H Extension Agent, Shannon Coleman. If you would like to volunteer as a 4-H school enrichment program presenter, contact Shannon Coleman, by emailing shannon_coleman@ncsu.edu or call 828-837-2210 ext. 4.
