frankschaffer2.jpg

Frank Schaffer

Metamorphosis of A Butterfly

Ages:
4 - 10 years
Price:
$14.95
Phone:
888-285-5118

A beautiful way to understand more about the Monarch Butterfly. The magic is captured in this 50-piece giant floor puzzle that measures two feet by three feet. The back of the box is well-designed, with information about butterflies and their habitat, such as the Monarch caterpillar's dependency on the leaves of milkweed plants or the butterfly's migration route from Canada and the Northern United States to California and Mexico.

Here are some more facts about the Monarch that you can learn from this Frank Schaffer puzzle and share with the kids: butterflies fly 2000 miles to reach their winter home. They can travel up to 100 miles in one day at speeds as high as 12 miles an hour. Some of the areas that they migrate to are being cleared by farmers and commercial loggers. The newest threat to survival involves gene altered corn pollen that kills the caterpillars.

Butterflies go through four stages of development - the egg, larva, caterpillar (pupa/ chrysalis) and adult. The butterfly lays the egg on the leaf of a milkweed plant. The sticky substance holds the eggs in place. In a few days, a caterpillar hatches from the egg and eats its shell, then begins to eat the milkweed leaf. It breaks out of its old skin, grows for about two weeks and molts about five times. Then it attaches itself to a stem of a leaf and drops so its head is down. It's skin splits. The caterpillar has changed to a pupal form. The adult butterfly is growing inside. Two weeks later the pupa becomes transparent, splits open---and a butterfly emerges. You can let your family's knowledge of this fascinating creature grow as well simply by playing with this Frank Schaffer puzzle.

Home Copyright Arrow Up