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🌿 Nature Study: Autotrophs vs Heterotrophs

How Living Things Get Food Have you ever wondered where food really comes from? Like… how does a plant grow from just sunlight and water? And why do animals always seem to be eating something? This blog post was inspired by sunflower seeds emerging from our garden soil with their seeds still attached to their leaves and by a Gardening 101 Field Trip.  We were introduced to the concept of categorizing living things by how they get their food during my littles last virtual agriculture field trip and had to share our findings here. So now that we all know that living things can be grouped by how they get their food. Let’s break it down! 🌞 Autotrophs: The “Food Makers” Autotrophs are living things that can make their own food . They don’t need to eat other living things because they can create energy from: ☀️ Sunlight (this is called photosynthesis) 💧 Water 🌬️ Air (carbon dioxide) 🌼 Examples of autotrophs: Plants (like grass, trees, flowers) Algae (tiny plant-like ...

How to make a Quick Simple Butterfly

As I mentioned in a previous post, I really like the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, so much so that I’ve read it to my kids quite a few times. They’ve also read the Moonlite edition, played The Very Hungry Caterpillar game, watched the video short on YouTube and listened to Michelle Obama read the story. 

Needless to say it is a favorite and they can easily spot and identify a caterpillar and butterfly. It was no surprise then, when one morning when I was showering, I heard my 3 year old screaming with delight ‘Mommy, Mommy butterfly!’ 

Hungry Caterpillar game
The surprise was that the screaming and excitement lasted a full 10 - 15 minutes. This made me think a neighbor had just gifted them a new butterfly toy.


When I finally got dressed I heard the full cause for excitement. An orange butterfly got trapped in our screen door and was fluttering around for their little viewing pleasure, until their Dad freed it. 

Their excitement was so palpable that I had to build on the moment and create some simple one dimensional butterflies to add to their learning fun. 

My 3 year old's butterfly art and craft
My 3 yr old's butterfly art work

Here’s what we used to make our very own butterflies:

Materials 

  • Coloured Card stock paper 
  • Coloured popsicle sticks
  • Crayons
  • Coloured wool
  • Scissors
  • Glue 
  • Googley eyes
  • Your Imagination!

Steps

1. Paste the popsicle stick on the card stock paper

2. Draw a big number 3 on both sides of the stick.

3. Draw two antennas at the top of the stick and paste two googly eyes or dried peas. 

4. Colour and decorate with crayons, glitter and wool!

My 2 yr old's butterfly artwork



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