Our teachers always go above and beyond to provide the best care to all of the LT children. This week, we would like to notice Ms. Danelle from The Learning Tree West!
Ms. Danelle has a love for nature and decided to bring that love to her classroom. Over the past few weeks, Ms. Danelle and her class have been learning about the butterflies life cycle. 
The children were able to observe the butterfly from the very beginning.
They all get to hold, and examine the bugs, getting up close and personal. By doing this, it teaches the children t0 respect for living things, how to be kind and gentle, and considerate of delicate little living things. They take magnifying glasses into the garden to look for the bugs, they’ve learned all about the life cycles of butterflies and moths and why pollinators are so important to us.
The butterfly our LT kiddos were learning about was the Black Swallowtail.
More of what they learned:
The swallowtail egg can be found on the host plant and is easily identified as a perfectly round yellow orb.
In 3-5 days, the teensy larva Caterpillar comes out.
The first few in stars are black with white stripe, as they continue molting, yellow, green & black caterpillars.
Once the caterpillar has had enough food and growth, it will begin to form its chrysalis.
The pupa (or chrysalis stage) last for 9-11 days, or over the winter months, depending on when the chrysalis was formed.
