S t u d y Spring 2014 Robbins Creative Content, LLC.
About Time for Home School Time for Home School is a division of Robbins Creative Content, LLC. Veronica Robbins is president and owner of the company. She is a former classroom teacher, curriculum writer, and school administrator. Veronica lives in Woodland, California with her husband and two sons. She holds a Masters degree in Education and has over 25 years of experience working in and with public, charter, and private schools. As an outgrowth of her educational experience and homeschooling of her 10 year old son, Veronica established Time for Home School to develop curriculum materials of superior quality. A Time for Home School website can be found at http://timeforhomeschool.com. You may reach Veronica by phone (866-362-1871) or by email (vrobbins@ robbinscontent.com). Copyright 2014. Robbins Creative Content, LLC. All rights reserved. Purchaser is granted rights for use in their own family or classroom. Any other digital duplication, electronic transmission or posting of the contents contained, printing, photocopying, and/or distribution of copies of content is prohibited. Page 3
Information for Parents/Teachers Spring is one of the most exciting times of year because of all the natural world gives us to see and explore. This spring unit is designed to help you with resources for teaching your child about spring as well as resources for teaching a a variety of content areas (language arts, math, etc.) using spring as a topic. You can supplement these resources with literature to make a full and well-rounded spring unit. Please see my list of recommended books on Page 5. The following is a description of what you ll find here. Cover page (p.6) This page can be used as a cover for your child s notebook for this unit. It can be colored or not. Life Cycle of a Butterfly (p. 7) This section includes a description of the life cycle of a butterfly, vocabulary, spelling words, vocabulary and spelling activities, a butterfly life cycle chart, fun facts about butterflies, and more. All About Seeds ( p. 14) This section includes seed vocabulary, an animates seed flipbook, a seed experiment, and vocabulary and spelling activities. Parts of a Flower (p. 21) This section teaches about the parts of a flower and pollination. It includes a description of how flowers reproduce, vocabulary words, a detailed flower graphic for labeling the parts, spelling and vocabulary activities, and a flower dissection activity. Flower Power Mathematics (p. 35) Multiplication practice. Coloring page (p. 36) This is a fun coloring page of bunnies in a field with flowers. Spring is in full bloom! Birdhouse Math (p.37) Solve the multiplication problems and use the answers to help solve the riddle. Adverbs (p. 38) This includes a graphic description of the types of adverbs and a practice sheet. It also includes The Adverb Game, a fun was to learn and practice adverbs. Comprehension Plus (p.47) Three reading passages with a spring theme give your child the opportunity to practice reading comprehension skills, but the questions that follow the readings are about more than just comprehension; they ask your child to engage in higher order thinking, as well. Water Cycle (p. 50) - This section includes a description of the water cycle, vocabulary, spelling words, vocabulary and spelling activities, a water cycle chart, fun facts about the water cycle, and more. Notebooking Pages (p. 57) Four themed notebooking pages are provided for writing, as well as some writing assignment ideas. Math Answer Keys (p. 62) The math pages are provided again, but this time with the answers! Page 4
Some Book Suggestions for Spring Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne, a Magic Tree House book Leprechauns and Irish Folklore: A nonfiction Companion to Leprechaun in Late Winter by Mary Pope Osborne, A Magic Tree House Research Guide. Miriam s Cup: A Passover Story by Fran Manushkin The Carp in the Bathtub by Barbara Cohen The Yankee at the Seder by Elka Weber Hoot by Carl Hiassen Safe at Home by Sharon Robinson Shoeless Joe & Me by Dan Gutman, a Baseball Card Adventure Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald O Sullivan Stew by Hudson Talbot The Giver by Lois Lowry Ordinary Things: Poems from a Walk in Early Spring by Ralph Fletcher Page 5
My Spring study By: Page 6
The Life Cycle of a Butterfly Lesson Goal The student will understand and appreciate the unique life cycle of the butterfly. Objectives: 1. The student will name and order the life cycle stages of a butterfly. 2. The student will correctly spell the vocabulary words and use each in a sentence. Vocabulary: eggs o Definition - an oval or round object laid by a female bird, reptile, fish, or invertebrate, usually containing a developing embryo. caterpillar o Definition - the larva of a butterfly or moth, having a segmented wormlike body with three pairs of true legs and several pairs of leg-like appendages. Caterpillars may be hairy, have warning coloration, or be colored to resemble their surroundings. chrysalis o Definition - a dormant insect pupa, usually of a butterfly or moth. cocoon o Definition - a silky case spun by the larvae of many insects for protection in the pupal stage. larva o Definition - the active immature form of an insect, esp. one that differs greatly from the adult and forms the stage between egg and pupa, e.g., a caterpillar or grub. pupa o Definition - an insect in its inactive immature form between larva and adult, e.g., a chrysalis. butterfly o Definition - an insect with two pairs of large wings that are covered with tiny scales, usually brightly colored, and typically held erect when at rest. Butterflies fly by day, have clubbed or dilated antennae, and usually feed on nectar. metamorphosis o Definition - (in an insect or amphibian) the process of transformation from an immature form to an adult form in two or more distinct stages. (All definitions are from Google.com) Butterflies have one of the most interesting life cycles in nature because they undergo a complete metamorphosis. The baby caterpillars eat their way out of the egg! Then they eat the rest of the egg. After eating their egg, the small caterpillars begin to eat their host plant and they eat and eat and grow and grow. Caterpillars are often born right on the a host plant, or very near it. The host plant is the one they like to eat. A Monarch butterfly, for example, likes to eat milkweed so the adults usually lay their eggs under the leaves of the milkweed plant. Page 7
Caterpillars are eating machines! They eat and eat until it is time to turn into a pupa. Some caterpillars each 27,000 times their body weight in food before they turn into a Pupa. Two Math Problems - How much food would you have to eat in order to each 27,000 times your body weight? 1. (your weight in pounds) x 27,000 = (how many pounds of food you would eat) Now, figure out how much food that would represent. 2. If 4 bananas equal 1 pound, how many bananas would you have to need to eat like a caterpillar? 4 bananas / (your answer to number 1) = (number of bananas you would eat.) Hard to believe isn t it? If you were a caterpillar, that s how many bananas you d have to eat! When it is time, caterpillars find a quiet place and attach themselves to a branch. Moths make silk to weave a cocoon all around until they re closed inside but this is not what butterflies make. Butterfly caterpillars shed their skin and under it is a hard shell. The shell around them acts like a case and it is called a chrysalis. Once a caterpillar is inside their chrysalis, they are called a pupa and their body undergoes mysterious changes. These changes turn its body into a butterfly. When it is time for a butterfly to come out, its chrysalis turns clear. The butterfly uses a liquid to soften the shell then the butterfly breaks it open with its sharp feet. Did you know? Caterpillars have 12 eyes. Caterpillars have as many as 4,000 muscles in their body. Caterpillars eat poison in plants to make themselves taste bad to predators. Some caterpillars can inflate their heads to make them look like small snakes when they are threatened. Butterflies use a special super strong glue to attach their eggs. Butterflies can t fly if their body temperature is less than 86 degrees Fahrenheit. A butterfly s skeleton is on the outside of its body. There are 20,000 species of butterflies. Butterflies can taste with their feet. Butterflies have four wings. Butterflies live from one week to a year. Butterfly wings have scales that give them color. Most Butterflies feed on nectar from flowers. A caterpillar s body melts inside the chrysalis to turn into a butterfly. Page 8
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