Outdoor learning resources – Butterfly hunt.
The sun is out and the butterflies are flying around. So my challenge for you today is to go on a butterfly hunt.
You don’t have to have a butterfly net but do not pick up butterflies with your hands.
If you see butterflies in your garden then start by just watching them and follow them around the garden seeing where they land and what they do.
Use the ID guide to identify which type of butterfly they are.
Once you have found their route, then locate yourself close to most popular bush and just sit and watch. Then when you see a butterfly settle on a leaf, very slowly inch your way closer to the butterfly. If you are sweaty then run some sweat on your finger if not squirt some salty or sweet water on your finger. Hold it next to the leaf, without scaring the butterfly off, and hold you finger out and the butterfly might crawl on to your finger to drink the liquid with its unwound proboscis. If it doesn’t want to then just watch it.
If it is on a flower you may see it unravel its long proboscis, tongue, and poke it down the flower to the nectar to slurp up the nectar. Once the butterfly has flown off have a look at the flower it was feeding from.
Can you see where it was trying to feed from?
See if you can use a cotton bud to absorb the nectar and try it for yourself or if you dissect the flower, see if you can see the where the nectar is stored. Why is it in such a difficult location? Why isn’t it at the top of the flower? Think about what the flower wants to get out of the butterfly visiting.
Write a fact file about the butterfly you have observed. You can use the outline from Nature Days Blog. www.naturedays.co.uk/blog/
Don’t forget to Tweet and photos of butterflies you see or your fact files #NatureDays @DawnNatureDays or Facebook.
