By Katie & Wendy
June 4, 1997
June 4, 1997 Today we talked about the different parts of a caterpillar. Caterpillar's have many different parts. Each part helps the caterpillar to survive in some way. Each part also has a function. I have made a chart that shows what kinds of parts a caterpillar has; it also shows you what each part does for the caterpillar. I have also made a caterpillar & people parts chart. You can look at it and see that people have some of the same parts that a caterpillar does. "One of the interesting things that we learned about caterpillar's is about their legs. I learned that a caterpillar has 6 legs. The other legs are not real legs. He uses them for holding onto stuff like leaves and stuff." ---Katie That's right! Katie knows that because she knows a caterpillar is an insect, and a insect has 6 legs. The others are fake. They look like real legs, but they are only prolegs. The prolegs job is to grip and hold. And that is what caterpillar does, especially when he begins changing into a butterfly. Those prolegs keep that caterpillar from falling down while he is hanging upside down as a chrysalis. We also compared our body parts to the caterpillar's. You saw by the chart that we have some of the same parts as a caterpillar; but we looked at things a little closer and answered these questions: 1. What parts do people and caterpillar's both have? 2. Do you have the same number of legs? Eyes? Mouth? 3. What do we have that covers our bodies and our insides? What do caterpillar's have to cover their bodies? Katie and I made a few more comparisons. Here is what she found out. A caterpillar has 2 eyes. I have 2 eyes. A caterpillar has 1 mouth. I have 1 mouth. A caterpillar has 6 legs. I have 2 legs. A caterpillar has a head. I have a head. A caterpillar has antennae. I don't have antennae. A caterpillar has fur, spines. I have skin and hair. We then talked about how the caterpillar grows and what it needs. Here is a list of things that we came up with to describe what people need to live. People need these things to live: 1. air to breathe 2. food to eat 3. rest to grow 4. water to drink 5. protection We talked about, and looked at our list. Then we asked ourselves these questions about people and about caterpillar's. A. Does the caterpillar need food to grow? B. Do we need food to grow? C. Does a caterpillar need rest sometimes? D. Do people need rest sometimes? E. Do caterpillar's and butterflies need special parts to find and get food? F. Do people have body parts to help them find food? After going over both of these lists we discovered that caterpillar's and people have many things in common. Both caterpillar's and people need good food to help them grow. We can also see that caterpillar's and people need rest and sleep. When we are resting, or sleeping, our bodies can grow and change. Another thing we saw was that caterpillar's, butterflies and people all have special body parts to help them do things that help them survive; and parts that help them to find and get food. For example a butterfly uses it's feet, antennae, and probiscus to find and eat food. People use their hands and mouths. So today we have learned more new things about these tiny little creatures. Now we just can't wait to see what our caterpillar's and butterflies will look like. We are starting to get excited and anxious for them to come. We don't know how they will come either; will it be the mailman, or UPS, or Federal Express? Well sooner or later they will be here; then the fun will really start! Until the next time....so long, and Happy Caterpillar Hunting!