My Caterpillar Parking Lot

Happy spring!  Our caterpillars arrived yesterday, and the energy in the room was through the roof!  We get our caterpillars from Carolina Science.  They are painted ladies, not to be confused with monarchs, which also have black, orange, and white wings.  Painted ladies also have a lot of brown.  Anyway, this is my seventh year with them, so you'd expect me to be an expert, right?  Hardly.  But one lesson I've learned is that when there are live critters in the room, the teacher blends into the background.  Yep, I'm chopped liver compared to a one-centimeter caterpillar, living in a cozy cup with a splotch of mallow food.  Trying to teach a reading workshop lesson?  Not gonna happen.  Want to get the kids to line up for gym?  They can't hear you.  Their eyes and ears are glued to their newly adopted, named, and dearly loved caterpillar.

Usually I put a strip of painters tape down the center of my free-standing bookshelf.  It's only 3 feet tall, so it's the perfect height for displays.  I write the numbers 1 through 20 (depending on how many students I have) with Sharpie.  The students put their caterpillar cups on their number.  It's easy for them to keep organized, easy for me to see who has stashed their caterpillar in their desk because they can't bear to be separated, and easy for everyone to keep track of their rapid growth.  Well, I came up with a new idea this year.  I call it a caterpillar parking lot!  It's low tech and totally free!

In order to be able to put the caterpillars out of sight when we're working on other academics, I took the lid from one of our copy paper boxes.  Then I used a straight edge to divide it into 24 sections.  I numbered each "parking spot," and voila! A caterpillar parking lot!  I made sure to tell the class that if "parking" your caterpillar goes quickly and quietly, I'll be more likely to take them out throughout the day.  I left the parking lot out on a back table before school, and the students were so excited to check on them this morning.  Recess is also an acceptable time to hang out with your caterpillar.  And of course, we have to check them during science time!  Here is the parking lot full of caterpillar cups.,,

I use a Sharpie to write the student's number on the lid, and the caterpillar's name on the side of the cup.  I have twenty students this year, and kept an extra four, making the total 24.  It's a good idea to have a couple extras for those unfortunate times when a caterpillar dies, which sometimes happens while in the chrysalis stage, or when a butterfly flies away before posing for a picture (how rude).  For the last three years, I have had each child adopt and track their own caterpillar's growth, chrysalis, and emerging.  I think having their "own" caterpillar adds another level to their learning.  The years where we didn't mark the cups and put all the unmarked chrysalises into a giant net/house, the kids weren't as interested or committed to the data we were collecting.  However, give them their own, and they are hooked!  

Each student uses a donated, plastic pretzel tub marked with their number, so I can reuse them each year.  I use the clear kind with wide lids.  It's easy for the kids to put their hands in and get their butterfly on their finger at the time of release. The tubs are too big for the tiny caterpillars, so I don't transfer them to the pretzel tubs until the chrysalis is formed.  It is so exciting to come in to school each day and see "who" has emerged overnight. Some years, we've been lucky enough to see one emerge live, up close, and personal! The look on that child's face is incredible.  They'd pass out bubble gum cigars if they had any. 

We had a great day today, partially because I was able to move the caterpillar parking lot over to a high shelf, out of sight, so we could get some work done.  

Mission accomplished.