Caterpillars, moths and butterflies.
This list contains ideas for lessons and activities related to caterpillars, including: life cycles, food chains, observation skills, animal behaviour, assessment and ideas for working with SEN children in science.
Crawling Caterpillars
Aimed at upper Key Stage Two, this resource investigates whether moth caterpillars move in a straight line when they seek a refuge. It contains a short film showing caterpillars moving, children then measure tracks they have made. They go on to use data provided to analyse and interpret movement. It could used as an enrichment task or as a whole class activity.
APP for Primary Science - Counting Caterpillars with Deborah Herridge
This programme from Teachers TV demonstrates a fun, low-cost and practical science investigation which helps assess childrens skills of pattern-seeking and collecting and representing data.
CPD trainer Deborah Herridge shows a group of primary science teachers a simple technique for recording woollen caterpillars which will transform a tally chart into a pictogram and cover some of the criteria for varying the representation of data. This exercise also is a nice way of starting a discussion about the importance of camouflage to animals.
Shape Games for Students Aged 3-5
Two worksheets which help with the pattern recognition and reflective symmetry. In Butterflies chiuldren use counters to make symmentrical patterns. In Butterfly wings they create their own butterflies.
Insect Lore
Links to the Insect Lore website which sells a variety of resources including the eggs or larvae of small invertebrates. These may be kept and observed for a short time in the classroom to aid the learning of all things related to minibeasts.
Special Schools: Science
The approaches and ideas discussed in this video could be used by teachers and classroom assistants when planning to meet the needs of special needs children within a class. It could also be used in a CPD session run by science co-ordinators looking at how science can be made more accessible to children with profound and multiple difficulties, and children with sensory impairment.
Activities shown include: matching symbols to fruit, developing exploration and teaching a visually impaired child tracking skills. All the activities stem from work on The Very Hungry Caterpillar book.
Education Pack: Food Chains
Caterpillars are a source of food for many creatures. This resource contains some good activities for helping to develop an understanding of food chains. Linked to the topics of animals and all living things, it includes a matching activity, a game and a simulation of a food web.
