Resources Resource 1 : Book about a butterfly (Resource: Book about Butterfly Life Cycles).
Clyne, D. (1994). Flutter by, Butterfly. St. Leonards, NSW: A Little Ark Book.
Example of Diagrams - Page 2 of 'Flutter by, Butterfly'
Outcomes Addressed:
Science and Technology - (Living Things) S2.3: Identifies and describes the processes of change in living things.
English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1: Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.6: Uses efficiently an integrated range of skills and strategies when reading and interpreting written texts.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7: Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.8: Discusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types.
This book is appropriate for effectively engaging students in the introduction to the topic of multimodalities in the Key Learning Areas of Science and English. In this first lesson, students are involved in a series of activities that involve viewing and critiquing how multimodalities - in this case, a written factual text including visuals - are made to achieve their function as a non-fiction text that aims to inform readers about a specific stream of information. This book contains a variety of good representational aspects of a factual written text, from which much multimodal experiences, discussion, critique, and even visual metalanguage can be initiated i.e. it is a non-fiction text, containing a variety of images (close up, detailed, high and naturalistic modality, representational of concrete everyday items), diagrams (overt taxonomies, structured analytical, transactional), and written text that accompany the images, or vice versa, with a range of everyday to technical words (see example of Diagrams above).
Moreover, it is a good starting point for scaffolding knowledge about the butterfly life cycle, and hence the process of change in living things, because of its' relatively brief, easily-read and -understood coverage on the change that butterflies undergo (Clyne, pp. 7-11, 16-19). This allows for an effectively engaging and enjoyable introduction activity that scaffolds prior knowledge or schemas on the concept of butterflies' morphology, introducing key topic words to the unit of work, whilst allowing for greater amount of focus, research and investigation in the subsequent lessons.
Resource 2 : National Geographic Documentary Video: Growing Up Butterfly
Science and Technology - Living Things S2.3: Identifies and describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment Science and Technology- Using TechnologyUT S2: Selects and uses a range of equipment, computer-based technology, materials and other resources with developing skill to enhance investigation and design tasks. English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1: Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum. English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.5: Reads independently a wide range of texts on increasingly challenging topics and justifies own interpretation of ideas, information and events. English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7: Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes. English - (Writing) WS2.9: Drafts, revises, proofreads and publishes well-structured texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and written language features
This video is useful in representing the different stages of the life cycle with moving imagery and graphic detailing of what is occurring in each stage. It allows students to recognise what is happening and how (e.g. the cells in the caterpillar 'dissolve and reshape' to create a cocoon and eventually a butterfly) in a visual manner so that any misunderstandings are avoided. The voice narration provides students with technical information and uses tone to reinforce important stages and the miracle transformation of caterpillar into butterfly.The narration is appropriate for grade level and integrates technical words that will enhance student’s vocabulary on the subject. Teachers can aid this vocabulary growth by engaging the class in defining challenging words (gorges, migration, manic, dissolves, antennae, scant), before they are encountered in the video to avoid confusion. The narration also adds geographical information on their migration from Mexico to California that can add global context for students. This video builds on prior knowledge of the butterfly life cycle with new information that is easily accessible in a manner that students will be able to relate to. This video can be incorporated into a lesson as a base for more investigation through computer work and can be analysed through video techniques such as fast forwarding, close ups and multiple camera angles, as well as sound and narration.
Resource 3 : Image showing time lapse of the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly
Science and Technology - Living Things S2.3: Identifies and describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment. English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1 Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum. English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.5Reads independently a wide range of texts on increasingly challenging topics and justifies own interpretation of ideas, information and events. English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7: Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes. Visual Arts- (Appreciating)VAS2.4 Identifies connections between subject matter in artworks and what they refer to, and appreciates the use of particular techniques.
This image will help students to research and obtain information on a previously introduced topic and aid them in creating their sustained information report on their researched life cycle, providing a complex and deep explanation of this natural phenomena. The variance in context of the butterfly, egg, caterpillar, or cocoon provides students with a relevant index to compare the photographs to (i.e. a caterpillar is smaller than the top section of an adult male’s finger, or a newly emerged caterpillar is smaller than a human fingernail). This relevance to their daily lives will add depth and context to their understanding. Students can also discuss aspects of the image, including salience, framing, and the effect of visual diagramming. By examining and interacting with the images, as well as adding their own commentary to their assigned life cycle and deciding which pictures belong to which cycle, students will gain a deeper understanding of the butterfly life cycle.
Science and Technology - (Living Things) S2.3 Identifies and describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment. Science and Technology - (Using Technology) UTS2.9 Selects and uses a range of equipment, computer-based technology, materials and other resources with developing skill to enhance investigation and design tasks. Science and Technology - (Investigating) INV S2.7 Conducts investigations by observing, questioning, predicting, testing, collecting, recording and analysing data, and drawing conclusions English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1 Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum.English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.2 Interacts effectively in groups and pairs, adopting a range of roles, uses a variety of media and uses various listening strategies for different situations.English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7 Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.English - (Writing) WS2.9 Drafts, revises, proofreads and publishes well-structured texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and written language featuresEnglish - (Writing) WS2.12Uses joined letters when writing in NSW Foundation style and demonstrates basic desktop publishing skills on the computer. The Butterfly Site provides a student-friendly resource, with an easily navigated home page offering students links to life cycle, gardening, rearing, pictures, activities, specimens, monarchs, fun facts, and live release pages within the site. The students will be directed towards the Life Cycle page, where they will encounter many different types of text, including web text and picture captions, and will use their visual and multimodal literacy skills when observing the pictures, videos, and associated text featured on the page. The informative and child-geared science focus of the site allows children to explore the site after researching their assigned life cycle stage, gaining information from links like “Fun Facts” that will keep them engaged in the task while strengthening their knowledge on the topic.
Resource 1 : Book about a butterfly (Resource: Book about Butterfly Life Cycles).
Outcomes Addressed:Science and Technology - (Living Things) S2.3: Identifies and describes the processes of change in living things.
English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1: Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.6: Uses efficiently an integrated range of skills and strategies when reading and interpreting written texts.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7: Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.8: Discusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types.
This book is appropriate for effectively engaging students in the introduction to the topic of multimodalities in the Key Learning Areas of Science and English. In this first lesson, students are involved in a series of activities that involve viewing and critiquing how multimodalities - in this case, a written factual text including visuals - are made to achieve their function as a non-fiction text that aims to inform readers about a specific stream of information. This book contains a variety of good representational aspects of a factual written text, from which much multimodal experiences, discussion, critique, and even visual metalanguage can be initiated i.e. it is a non-fiction text, containing a variety of images (close up, detailed, high and naturalistic modality, representational of concrete everyday items), diagrams (overt taxonomies, structured analytical, transactional), and written text that accompany the images, or vice versa, with a range of everyday to technical words (see example of Diagrams above).
Moreover, it is a good starting point for scaffolding knowledge about the butterfly life cycle, and hence the process of change in living things, because of its' relatively brief, easily-read and -understood coverage on the change that butterflies undergo (Clyne, pp. 7-11, 16-19). This allows for an effectively engaging and enjoyable introduction activity that scaffolds prior knowledge or schemas on the concept of butterflies' morphology, introducing key topic words to the unit of work, whilst allowing for greater amount of focus, research and investigation in the subsequent lessons.
Resource 2 : National Geographic Documentary Video: Growing Up Butterfly
Growing Up Butterfly. Great Migrations. National Geographic. Retrieved from: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/av-8520-8756/ngc-growing-up-butterfly.html
Outcomes Addressed:
Science and Technology - Living Things S2.3: Identifies and describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment
Science and Technology- Using Technology UT S2: Selects and uses a range of equipment, computer-based technology, materials and other resources with developing skill to enhance investigation and design tasks.
English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1: Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.5: Reads independently a wide range of texts on increasingly challenging topics and justifies own interpretation of ideas, information and events.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7: Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.
English - (Writing) WS2.9: Drafts, revises, proofreads and publishes well-structured texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and written language features
This video is useful in representing the different stages of the life cycle with moving imagery and graphic detailing of what is occurring in each stage. It allows students to recognise what is happening and how (e.g. the cells in the caterpillar 'dissolve and reshape' to create a cocoon and eventually a butterfly) in a visual manner so that any misunderstandings are avoided. The voice narration provides students with technical information and uses tone to reinforce important stages and the miracle transformation of caterpillar into butterfly.The narration is appropriate for grade level and integrates technical words that will enhance student’s vocabulary on the subject. Teachers can aid this vocabulary growth by engaging the class in defining challenging words (gorges, migration, manic, dissolves, antennae, scant), before they are encountered in the video to avoid confusion. The narration also adds geographical information on their migration from Mexico to California that can add global context for students. This video builds on prior knowledge of the butterfly life cycle with new information that is easily accessible in a manner that students will be able to relate to. This video can be incorporated into a lesson as a base for more investigation through computer work and can be analysed through video techniques such as fast forwarding, close ups and multiple camera angles, as well as sound and narration.
Resource 3 : Image showing time lapse of the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly
Zittrich, William. Index of Monarch Butterfly Photographs. Retrieved From: http://www.wyllz.com/id177.htm
Outcomes Addressed:
Science and Technology - Living Things S2.3: Identifies and describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment.
English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1 Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.5Reads independently a wide range of texts on increasingly challenging topics and justifies own interpretation of ideas, information and events.
English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7: Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.
Visual Arts- (Appreciating)VAS2.4 Identifies connections between subject matter in artworks and what they refer to, and appreciates the use of particular techniques.
This image will help students to research and obtain information on a previously introduced topic and aid them in creating their sustained information report on their researched life cycle, providing a complex and deep explanation of this natural phenomena. The variance in context of the butterfly, egg, caterpillar, or cocoon provides students with a relevant index to compare the photographs to (i.e. a caterpillar is smaller than the top section of an adult male’s finger, or a newly emerged caterpillar is smaller than a human fingernail). This relevance to their daily lives will add depth and context to their understanding. Students can also discuss aspects of the image, including salience, framing, and the effect of visual diagramming. By examining and interacting with the images, as well as adding their own commentary to their assigned life cycle and deciding which pictures belong to which cycle, students will gain a deeper understanding of the butterfly life cycle.
Resource 4 : Website: The Butterfly Site http://www.thebutterflysite.com/
Homepage of The Butterfly Site. Retrieved from: http://www.thebutterflysite.com/
Outcomes Addressed:
Science and Technology - (Living Things) S2.3 Identifies and describes the structure and function of living things and ways in which living things interact with other living things and their environment.
Science and Technology - (Using Technology) UTS2.9 Selects and uses a range of equipment, computer-based technology, materials and other resources with developing skill to enhance investigation and design tasks.
Science and Technology - (Investigating) INV S2.7 Conducts investigations by observing, questioning, predicting, testing, collecting, recording and analysing data, and drawing conclusions
English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.1 Communicates in informal and formal classroom activities in school and social situations for an increasing range of purposes on a variety of topics across the curriculum.English - (Talking and Listening) TS2.2 Interacts effectively in groups and pairs, adopting a range of roles, uses a variety of media and uses various listening strategies for different situations.English - (Reading and Viewing) RS2.7 Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.English - (Writing) WS2.9 Drafts, revises, proofreads and publishes well-structured texts that are more demanding in terms of topic, audience and written language featuresEnglish - (Writing) WS2.12 Uses joined letters when writing in NSW Foundation style and demonstrates basic desktop publishing skills on the computer.
The Butterfly Site provides a student-friendly resource, with an easily navigated home page offering students links to life cycle, gardening, rearing, pictures, activities, specimens, monarchs, fun facts, and live release pages within the site. The students will be directed towards the Life Cycle page, where they will encounter many different types of text, including web text and picture captions, and will use their visual and multimodal literacy skills when observing the pictures, videos, and associated text featured on the page. The informative and child-geared science focus of the site allows children to explore the site after researching their assigned life cycle stage, gaining information from links like “Fun Facts” that will keep them engaged in the task while strengthening their knowledge on the topic.