BUTTERFLIES IN THE VILLAGE

The year 3 students were captivated with their butterfly enclosures that arrived during term 4 for their unit on insects and life cycles. These orchard swallowtail butterflies arrived as caterpillars and munched and crunched their way through copious amounts of citrus leaves. It took about 2-3 weeks for them to form a chrysalis which looked like a dried curled up leaf, which would camouflage them within the branches. Another 3 weeks later, out they emerged as beautiful butterflies. The butterflies were fed with a sugar syrup (instead of accessing nectar from flowers) and after the students had several days of observation and care, were released in the OSPS village to hopefully start the lifecycle again in the South Oakleigh area.