We are fortunate to have several monarch caterpillars in our classroom.  We have been carefully observing them as they grow and change, making note of things we notice or wonder about them.  Some of our observations include:

• the caterpillars have black, yellow, and white stripes
• the chrysalises are shiny green with gold dots
• the caterpillars have lots of feet
• they eat milkweed
• they can crawl upside down on the leaves
• they have antennae on the front and back of their bodies
• the antennae on the front are longer than those on the back
• they eat a lot and grow really fast
• when they are ready to become chrysalises they hang in a "j" from the top of the house

We have also spent time talking about how the caterpillars would want to be treated while they are in our classroom, which has led to a broader conversation about how we should treat living things we encounter in nature:  look with your eyes, but please don't touch and use a calm and quiet body while you are observing, expectations that will become especially important when we start going to the forest for ECO.  As one student aptly stated "It would feel like an earthquake to the caterpillars if we were using loud voices around them."   During arrival time on Friday some of us were lucky to see one of the caterpillars transform into a chrysalis, a strangely fascinating process!  In a couple of weeks we should have some butterflies.