CATALPA BIODIVERSITY PROJECT

Lesson Plan 13: The Caterpillar's Big Surprise

by Brenda Hunt
8th grade biology teacher
Habersham County

Purpose:
The story is read to the students to illustrate how questioning, observing and learning from others allows us to understand the world. The story also places a girl in the role of the scientist using the scientific method in the same way the students have been during this project. The students are further introduced to the life cycle of the moth and prepared for what will happen to their own caterpillars.

Step One:
Prepare the environment for the students to listen to the story. Select a different story such as"The Hungry Caterpillar" to use if desired. You may want to show students pictures of the caterpillar before you begin.

The Caterpillar's Big Surprise
by Vicki Soutar and additions by Brenda Hunt

Cleo was a caterpillar that lived on a special Catalpa tree in Mary's backyard. He was a beautiful green, white and black caterpillar with a checkered pattern on his back. He loved living in Mary's yard. He spent his days hanging under leaves and eating their edges. It seemed his belly was never quite full. Each day Mary would come outside with her camera and take his picture. Sometimes he even posed for her. She would gently lift him off the tree and lay him in a steel pan. She then would take the pan and put it on her scale or balance and weigh him. She immediately opened her red log book and wrote down how much he weighed then measured him and recorded that too. Cleo did not mind because she told him how pretty he was and how big he was getting. Cleo grew and grew and grew.

Cleo began to notice his skin felt too small and began to split so he crawled out and found he had not only had a new skin but his colors were changing. Cleo's skin was less of a checkered pattern and more striped. Mary seemed very excited this day as she took his picture and made her measurements. She told him, "Cleo you are the most beautiful caterpillar or should I say larva in the world. Each time you shed your skin you grow larger and your colors change. I can't wait until you become a pupa!" " A pupa", Cleo wondered, "What ever could she mean by calling him first a larva, then a pupa." "Oh well", he thought; " she must be learning this in school."

Time past and Cleo grew larger and eventually had such a large black stripe that he had turned completely dark on top. Then one day he was amazed to find he actually felt his belly was full and he did not feel so hungry any more. In fact, he felt sleepy and tired. Mary came out for her daily visit and told Cleo that based on her scientific observations she felt it was time to tell him about the next step in his life cycle. "Cleo", she said. "You are about to be a pupa." "You will spin a cocoon to cover yourself while you go through some changes." "Just like children who grow up to be teenagers then into adults." "You too will see that your body will change so you can live out the rest of your life as a Catalpa Sphinx Moth!"

Cleo could only laugh then yawn. "What a silly thing to say, Mary." "I will always be me, Cleo, the caterpillar." He decided to wrap some silken threads around him like a blanket and take a nap. Maybe when he woke, he would feel like eating and by then maybe Mary could explain to him why she said those things.

Cleo awoke and found he had covered even his head with the blanket and he was finding it a little hard to get it off. Finally after a time he did, but then he had to brush some dirt off the top of himself and climb out. He began to stretch and found that he had wings. "Wings!", Cleo exclaimed. "What ever am I doing with wings?" About that time Mary came running down into the backyard. She took one look at Cleo and said, "Oh Cleo, I have waited for you to break out of your pupa case and be the beautiful moth I knew you would be." "You are so big and fat and furry.Ó ÒLook at your feather-like antennae!" Cleo rubbed his antennae and felt his wet wings drying in the sun. He thought, "She was right!" "I did go through a lot of changes." "What a surprise!" He looked around at the leaves he use to eat and decided that sucking flower nectar might be a much nicer dinner. After all, he now had a very long coiled tongue, instead of chewing mouthparts. Mary told him not to worry that he would get the hang of this new moth life and that he probably would enjoy being out at night more. She also told him he started as an egg, hatched as a larva or caterpillar, then became a pupa and finally a moth. She said one day he would help start this cycle or story over again. As the sun set and Mary had gone inside, Cleo said to himself as he flew off into the night "Each stage or new part of your life is different and requires change but that is not so bad because one day you fly on your own and you can fly as high as you believe."

Step two:
Review the stages of metamorphosis. Older students might write their own stories and share them with each other or younger students. Students might develop analogies about their lives and metamorphosis and other animal or plant life cycles.

Step three:
Review the anatomy of a moth with students and compare and contrast the life cycle and anatomy of a moth versus butterfly. Reference suggestions: "Insects", by Pat /Barbara Ward, Mark Twain Media, Inc.

Step four:
Look at the life cycle of other animals. Suggested reference is Science Series "Animal Life cycles", Evan-Moor, ISBN 1-55799-501-X

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