The monarch: chrysalis to butterfly

This task is about looking very carefully, and describing what you see.

Your question:

What are all the things that happen when a monarch butterfly comes out of a chrysalis?

What to do
Watch the video.
While you are watching, tell all the things you notice.
You can watch the video as many times as you like.

Start recording - then click the play button

Task administration:

This is an oral assessment, so you need to think about how to record responses.

The assessment task was trialled in two ways.

1-1 between student and teacher (Year 1)

Background knowledge: familiar with monarch butterflies

Equipment used: laptop, digital voice recorder

The student's observations were recorded on a digital voice recorder. This was downloaded onto the computer for later analysis.
Prompts were used to focus student's observations.
Student independently completed the sequencing task. She was asked for justifications for her decisions.

Whole class (Year 4)

Background knowledge: had studied monarch butterflies earlier in the year

Equipment used: class computers and notebooks, ActivInspire programme, interactive whiteboard

The teacher downloaded the resource onto the school portal. She wrote extra instructions to suit the class purpose of session.
The class watched the video on the interactive whiteboard.
Teacher recorded students' observations onto the whiteboard, using ActivInspire. Pause button for the video was used frequently.
Teacher prompted frequently to focus on observation rather than recall of what they already knew.
For the sequencing activity, the first frame was modelled on the interactive whiteboard.
Students then accessed the activity and worked either independently or in pairs to complete.
They sent the completed task to the teacher via email.

Prompts

Use a selection of the following prompts to direct students' observations as needed.

General Prompts

Look at what the butterfly does.
Look at what happens to the chrysalis.

Prompts for close observation

What happens to the colour of the chrysalis?
Where does the chrysalis split? What part of the butterfly comes out first?
What does the butterfly do when it comes out?
What do the wings look like when the butterfly comes out of the chrysalis?
How do the wings change after the butterfly has come out of the chrysalis?

Images and video NZCER, Crown copyright

Teaching and learning:

The assessment focus of this resource is on observation, which is an aspect of Science Capability 1, Gather and interpret data.

Diagnostic and formative information:

The Year 1 trial student

She mostly described big picture things, but not a lot of detail (e.g., it's coming out). Prompting questions helped her to observe a little more detail. While most observations were about the butterfly, she also talked about the chrysalis becoming "see through".
She had, in most cases, adequate vocabulary to describe what she saw and was beginning to use some science vocabulary.
She was able to complete the sequence of pictures correctly, demonstrating that she had noticed and retained the sequence of events.
She was able to justify the positioning of some of the photographs, but for the last two she could only say "I just remembered".

The Year 4 class

The students were initially inclined to talk about what they knew rather than what they saw. The teacher's interaction with the students helped them to focus on describing what they saw.
They gave quite detailed descriptions, both about what the butterfly and the chrysalis looked like, and what the butterfly was doing. When describing the butterfly, observations were mostly confined to the colour and patterning of the wings.
In most cases, vocabulary used was similar to that of the five year old. However, a few students were beginning to use more sophisticated vocabulary, e.g., connects, spreads; similes to colour their descriptions. It's moving like an old lady. Some also used comparative language. The butterfly is bigger than the chrysalis.
Their use of scientific language was no more developed than that of the five year old. While they talked about a chrysalis, they discussed whether the butterfly was a boy or a girl, rather than male or female.
Some used what they knew to inform their observations. This mostly related to whether the butterfly was male or female. (This question generated quite a lot of discussion, with students independently referring back to their workbooks to check.)
Almost all the students were able to correctly sequence the photographs.

Next steps:

Observations

If students' observations lack detail, use prompts that help them focus on details (see Using this resource for some ideas).

If students start talking about what they know, remind them that the task is about describing what they see. Direct them back to what is happening in the video. Pause the video so they have time to look carefully at details. Provide other opportunities to practise observing closely.

All students' observations could be collated, perhaps under a heading "What we found out". They could then begin making some inferences from the observations. Possible questions might be:

Why do you think the monarch butterfly has a chrysalis stage in its life cycle?
Why do you think the butterfly comes out head first?
Why do you think the wings expand after it comes out?

Alternatively, students may have questions of their own they would like to think about. Focus on the thoughtfulness of the responses (rather than whether it might be correct or not) and how they use what they have noticed to justify their ideas. For more ideas go to Gather and interpret data.

Vocabulary

If students don't have adequate vocabulary to give rich and/or precise descriptions

spend time building up banks of descriptive words they can use.
ask them what it is that makes the butterfly "beautiful", "cool", "nice", etc.

What to look for	Examples of student responses
Do the students describe what they see (rather than what they know)?	You can see patterns through the outside (of the chrysalis).
Are their descriptions accurate?	The butterfly comes out from the bottom of the chrysalis.
Do they notice details?	The chrysalis has gold on it. The butterfly is bigger than the chrysalis.
Do they have sufficient vocabulary to be able to descibe accurately?	It's spreading its wings.
Do they use any scientific vocabulary?	The chrysalis is going see-through.
Are their observations sometimes informed by what they know?	It's a boy. (Previous learning included the markings on male and female butterflies' wings.)

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The monarch: chrysalis to butterfly

The monarch: chrysalis to butterfly

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