Transformation

The MAC pod was able to host some Painted Lady caterpillars and observe their growth and transformation over the span of a few weeks.  We enjoyed observing them in their tiny little cup, and watched them grow each day.  My husband told me of a handy little feature he discovered on his document camera that enabled the opportunity for time lapse photography, and I was super excited to try my hand at it.  Once we noticed that a caterpillar had gotten into position to create a chrysalis I set up the computer and camera to snap one picture every minute for twenty-four hours.  Ms. Casey and I stayed at school until 5:30 so that we could dismiss the automatic shut-down of the computer.  We spoke with our custodian and principal to make sure we could have the computer, camera, and lights on through the night.

When I got back to the pod the next morning I found that we did indeed have not one, but two chrysalises formed in our little caterpillar cup!!  I pulled up the folder where the pictures were being saved and found over 1600 photos.  Picassa opened up the photos and I was able to view them in quick succession and see the first chrysalis form before my eyes.  I was able to count the five photos the camera snapped before the formation was complete, that means this process took merely five minutes! I was amazed, and couldn't wait to share with my little MAC friends.

I used iMovie on one of the handy new MacBooks that the school has gotten, and from there I uploaded the video to my Google Drive account.  The video was over seven minutes long, and I edited it down to about 30 seconds. This short clip shows to chrysalises forming, and it is super cool!  Hope you enjoy!

 

North Carolina Essential Standards:

Science K.L.1, 1.L.2, 2.L.1, 2.L.2

Information and Tech K.TT.1, 1.TT.1, 2.TT.1