Lesson: 2nd Grade Field Trip to the MSU Butterfly House

Grade: 2nd
Where: 1066 Bogue St, East Lansing, MI 48823 When: April 7th
Synopsis: Students will learn about the life cycle of a butterfly
NGSS Standard: SC.2.L.16.1- Observe and describe major stages in
the life cycle of plants and animals, including beans and butterflies.
Unit: During this unit the students are learning about the butterfly and
their life cycle. They will observe the life cycle with a classroom
caterpillar. Students will make observations. Students will view
different medias describing the life cycle and they will make a butterfly
project at the end of the unit. The students will use the citizen science
project called Monarch SOS throughout the entire unit. The students
will do this after a visit to the MSU butterfly house at the beginning of
the unit.
Students will take what they have learned about the basics of the
butterfly life cycle and they will use what they know during this field
trip.
Project Synopsis: The class will be taking a field trip to the MSU
butterfly house in East Lansing. We will spend the whole day there and
we will be learning a lot about the butterfly and the butterfly life cycle.
Students will observe different stages of the life cycle and will look at
them under microscopes and make observations about each stage.
Field Trip Agenda
1. Students will have a brief lesson about the butterfly life cycle and
will read a story about it
2. Students will talk about these new lifecycles
3. Students will look at different parts of the butterfly life cycle by
looking at things under microscopes.
4. Students will have lunch
5. Students will look at pictures of the process and they will try to
guess which picture goes to which part of the process.
6. Students will learn how plants have a role in the butterfly life
cycle
7. Students will look at the different things they have in the
butterfly house and get a tour of it and the garden
8. Students will take pictures of different butterflies and the
different stages of the life cycle and these will be used in our unit
later on.
9. The students will leave the museum and they will go over the
cycle one more time on the way back to our school.

10.
When we return back to the classroom, we will upload the
pictures that we have received and we will go over what part of
the cycle these pictures could be in. We will also be using this
data for our Monarch SOS app project that is a Citizen Science
project.