Eggs, Larva, Pupa, and Butterflies — Oh My!
Our 3rd graders are excited to have the unique opportunity to study the life cycle of a monarch butterfly this month! Thanks to a grant from Reap and USDA, along with collaboration with the Iowa State University Monarch Lab, every 3rd grade student is raising their own monarch butterfly from egg to adult. Central Lee is proud to be one of 50 districts participating in the Monarch Eggs Project, which encompasses over 270 classrooms and likely involves over 6000 students.
Our 3rd grade students have taken on the responsibility of transferring their caterpillars to new habitats, ensuring they are fed, and providing daily care. As our butterflies emerge from their chrysalises, we will attach identification tags to them and track their journeys. This generation of monarchs is migrating to Mexico for the winter.
This unique educational experience is a great source of pride for our school, and it’s just another reason to be proud of Central Lee!
Looking forward to a great year,
Mrs. Bass
Mrs. Counts
Mrs. Campbell
Mrs. Wright
Mrs. Wright’s Class: What was your favorite part about raising Monarch butterflies?
Karter- when it became a butterfly and we could see it drink Gatorade.
Hudson - a pupa because it turned into a “j”.
Mesa - getting to watch them grow up from the egg!
Timber - the larva stage and being able to feed them and clean up after them.
Lily - the larva becoming a butterfly.
Sydney - when it was a pupa.
Mikey - the pupa stage.
Lexi - seeing it in the pupa.
Kaden - the larva stage because I like to watch it eat.
Estella - the larva stage because I liked to see them.
Easton - the pupa stage because we got to watch the butterfly emerge!
Charli - watching them get bigger and bigger.
Sofia - when it emerged because it was so beautiful!
Grahm - the pupa stage because it turned green and that is my favorite color.
Brynlie - when we got to release the butterflies.
Oliver - watching them turn into a Monarch butterfly and getting to see them drink Gatorade.
Willow - the larva stage because they were so cute!
Addelyn - when it became a butterfly because it was so pretty and we let them go to Mexico.
Mia - all of them because it was fun watching them grow up.
Cambrynn - the butterfly stage. I have a lot of memories of raising the Monarchs.
Leevi - the last stage because I like the colors.
Lane - when they turn into Monarchs.
Uriah - the Monarch stage because we get to see them fly.
Noah - the butterfly stage.
Paisleigh - the butterfly stage because I love the colors and some day they will have eggs of their own.
Xavier - the pupa stage because it dances when it becomes a pupa.
Betty-Lou - when we released them and said goodbye to them.
Mrs. Campbell’s Class: What was your favorite part about raising Monarch butterflies?
Evangeline-Seeing it in a chrysalis
Blain- I liked seeing it make a chrysalis
Dylan-transferring it to a leaf
Luca-seeing it grow
Kodhe-releasing the butterfly
Aaron-Seeing it emerge from a chrysalis
Kinsleigh- being surprised if it was a male or a female. Mine was a male.
Reid-watching it emerge from a chrysalis
Bentley-Feeding it daily
Calvin-watching it turn into a chrysalis
Emory-watching it emerge in class
William-Everything about it
Emma M-seeing it emerge
Emma N-taking care of it
Alaysia-I liked seeing it grow
Kora-It becoming a butterfly
Skyler-watching it emerge
Grayson-seeing it grow
Brooke-watching the butterfly do a backflip out of the chrysalis
Olivia-I like it when it came of its chrysalis
Tatum-I liked feeding it as a caterpillar
Natalie-When I named the butterfly
Timber-watching it emerge
Jessa-That my caterpillar survived the entire process
Harper- seeing the butterfly emerge
Mrs. Bass’ Class: What was your favorite part about raising Monarch butterflies?
Gemma Ahlen - My favorite part of the butterflies was when they hatched.
Ka’ Mya Bailey Shannon - What I liked the most about the butterflies is when they came out of their pupas.
Coy Benner - My favorite thing about the butterflies was feeding them.
Claire Burgess - I loved my butterfly the most because it is so beautiful. It was so cool to see them start as an egg and turn into a green chrysalis and then a black chrysalis and soon they are a beautiful butterfly.
Azrael Dunn - My favorite part was watching it turn into a chrysalis and come out as a butterfly.
Camryn Hayes - My favorite part about the caterpillars was them getting fat.
Zoey Helenthal - My favorite thing about the butterflies was watching them come out of their pupa and seeing them fly around in the net.
Johanna Hirschler - My favorite thing of having the butterflies was feeding them.
Cora Lyon - I liked my butterfly because I got to see it grow and watch how much it ate.
Wesley McCarty - My favorite part of the butterflies was watching them grow, feeding them, and seeing them fly. They are so cute and fun!
Nova McGee - My favorite part is watching them grow and they are very beautiful. I love to see them fly around.
Niko Pelfrey - What I liked the most about having butterflies was seeing its wings.
Jack Rea - My favorite part about the butterfly was them hatching from their pupa.
Trayvon Rooney - I love watching it grow.
Joshua Seyb - I loved getting to feed them.
Tyler Skibba - My favorite part was to see the butterflies come out of their chrysalises.
Jiselle Spivey - The thing I liked the most about the butterflies is watching the larva turn into a pupa and then watching it hatch.
Harley Spray - My favorite part of having the butterflies were their wings and watching how pretty they are.
Camber St. Clair - I loved my butterfly! I loved watching it grow a lot, feeding it, and watching it turn into a chrysalis. It was so cool.
Camden Stewart - I loved watching them come out of their chrysalis.
Payton Thurman - My favorite part is watching them grow up.
Penelope Timmermann - The thing I loved the most from the butterflies was seeing them come out of the egg and watch it turn into a butterfly.
Luceebeth Villarreal - My favorite part of the butterflies is how beautiful they are.
Aiden Washburn - I love that the butterflies are black and orange.
Leo Weinburg - My favorite part of the butterflies was just looking at all of them.
Elliana Kamphaus - My favorite part was all of it.
Mrs. Count’s Class: The best part of raising a Monarch was…
Nolan - Letting them go.
Beckett - Watching them grow.
Jace - Getting to hold them.
Easton - Watching them grow.
Abbie - It was very fun.
Addy - Watching them grow.
JayLynne - It was so exciting.
Eliot - Releasing them.
Jud - Watching them come out of their chrysalis.
Ila - Naming them and watching them grow.
Ryker - When they come out of their pupa because their wings are so small.
Bryce - Feeding them.
Henley - Releasing them.
Case - Letting them go.
Oakley - Watching them grow.
Kristen - Watching them crawl around.
Autumn - When they were caterpillars.
Avery - Watching them transform.
Huxley - Feeding them.
Harlan - Letting them go.
Ethan - Naming them.
Cam - Seeing them do their life cycle and learning.