Learning goal: Changes in environments can be natural or influenced by humans. When the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce, and others die or move to new locations. Reading - Art= Glue popcorn “blossoms” to the branches of a tree. Trace or paint your arm and handprint to make the trunk and branches. Use pink popcorn to really give it that spring time look and feel. Alternatively, craft butterflies and caterpillars. Paint with a balloon to make a caterpillar. Just dip one end of the balloon in green paint and stamp circles on paper. Prepare butterfly wings by coloring coffee filters with markers. Spray with water bottle to blend the colors. Secure a clothes pin at the center.
- Science= Experiment with natural selection using butterflies and jelly beans. Prepare butterfly cutouts or cookies. Then fill a bowl with an edible snack that has both a desirable and an undesirable flavor or color, such as jelly beans (sweet and spicy) or cereal (fruit loops and whole-grain Cheerios). Invite each child to choose 5 items they would like to eat. Continue this process until it becomes obvious that one color or flavor is not preferred. Next, decorate the prepared butterflies with these same food items using frosting as glue. Which butterflies do you think will be eaten first? Which will last the longest? Why? Explain that animal bodies are designed to help them survive and avoid predators (i.e., not get eaten). Alternatively, use newspaper “moths” to tell the true story of how pollution almost caused the peppered moth to disappear. See activity instructions below.
- Play= Make pink popcorn balls and sing “Popcorn Popping”. Plant a butterfly garden. Or, go for a walk and look for signs of spring!
Fun facts: During the second half of the 19th century, pollution caused by the Industrial Revolution in
Peppered Moth Activity: Compare natural changes that occur in spring (days lengthen, trees blossom, flowers grow, caterpillars change to butterflies, etc.) to changes caused by humans (trees are cut down, homes are built, litter pollutes, etc.). Explain that changes in the environment can hurt or help living things. Cover a table or floor with clean, white paper. Spread out 30 circles made from the same white paper, and 30 circles cut from newspaper. Pretend that each child is a bird and give them 30 seconds to gather as many “moths” as they can. Count how many of each type they collected. Now pretend to pollute the paper by typing words and drawing pictures on it. Then replace the white paper with newspaper. Repeat the activity as before. How did your results differ? (The darker “moths” were now harder to find!) Tell the story of the peppered moth. Explain that pollution can influence the survival of living things. We must be careful to protect other living things.
