So, this post is definitely the second grade teacher in me coming out. But I have been so fascinated by this little guy the past couple of weeks, I just had to share. One of my sweet students from last year brought my class a monarch caterpillar a couple of weeks ago. Being an animal lover that she is, she had collected and researched these little guys and told me exactly what to do and what to expect. The caterpillar crawled around our bug barn and ate milkweed for a few days. Then one afternoon it crawled to the top of the cage where it attached itself and hung like a "j". The next day when I got to school it had turned into a green chrysalis. This is the way it stayed for a while. Then on Friday I noticed you could just barely see the outline of the butterfly's wings inside. I knew that this meant it was going to emerge soon! We were heading to Raleigh that afternoon and I decided to take it with us so I didn't miss something.
I knew it would happen quickly, but I still missed the butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. When it came out, it had to hang upside down and spread its wings for a while so they could dry. Here you can see it hanging and the empty chrysalis.
After a few hours, we took the butterfly outside so he could climb out and fly away. It took awhile and a few failed attempts, but he finally spread his wings a flew away! This butterfly will fly all the way to Mexico!
It was so beautiful and such a cool thing to watch! It really is a miracle! That tiny, ugly caterpillar completely transformed into a beautiful butterfly. We have been learning about metamorphosis in science, it means a complete change in form. When I see this butterfly I cannot help but be reminded about what God has done for us.
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Corinthians 5:17
ok i have to comment on the fact that you took this thing with you on a road trip.
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