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Each component in this outdoor activity works to improve visual memory skills and the collection and organization of data, while relating to butterflies!
1. Before you go outside, practice inside.
- Have each student take five things out of their desk,
place them on top of their desk, and cover them with a piece of paper.
- Students pair off with a buddy - Don't let your buddy see what's under your paper!
- OK buddies, take a long look at the objects under that piece of paper (5 seconds). Now, spend 10 seconds writing down everything you saw.
- How many objects did you remember? Uncover the objects, and compare your notes to the objects on the desk. Now switch places, and let the other student practice his/her observation and memory skills!
2. Now that everyone has practiced, explain the outdoor activity to the class.
3. Go over directions with students before going outside.
- Equip each student with pad and pencil, string and
yardstick.
4. Now it's time to go outside and have fun!
- Instruct students to pick "their" spot, within a clearly marked set of boundaries you've already staked out.
- Using a yardstick (ruler) and string, help each child measure one square yard (as a variation, each child can use a hula-hoop to mark their area).
- Make sure all children are within hearing range.
Let the observations begin!
a. Tell students to get comfortable next to their area. Now, clap or blow a whistle to begin.
b. Look: As you're keeping the time, have students spend one minute looking at their marked area.
c. Write from memory: After one minute, clap or whistle, and have students turn around (so their backs are to the area), and have them list each thing they saw.
d.. Look: Now have students turn back around, and observe their spot for one more minute.
e. Write from memory: At the end of one minute, clap or whistle and have them turn around and write down each additional thing observed.
f. Write from Observation: Have students face their area. Ask them to turn their paper over, look carefully at their spot, and write down everything they see. Take one minute to do this.
5. Back in class
Talk about the differences between observation from memory, and direct observation.
Did they see everything the first time? The second time? What else did they see when they wrote while observing?
Ask your students to think about the butterfly's compound eyes, and how they see the world. Why is observation important for butterfly survival? (Hint: Butterflies see more shades of green, and more patterns than we do.)
Do you think we would be able to protect ourselves from predators, and find food if we were insects?
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Adaptations:
Up-close observation: Using a magnifying glass, have students pick one thing and draw it, or write about it, in as much detail as they can.
Rotate and compare: Have students rotate from their spot to other spots, noting the number of the spots they are observing. (Be sure you've numbered all the observation spots beforehand.) Afterwards, have students discuss the area with others who observed the same spot. Did they notice the same things?
Combining younger and older students: After you've completed this exercise, have your students pick buddies in a kindergarten or first grade class.
For K-2, do as an oral
exercise as a class, or use small groups with an adult in each group.
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Science, 
Math, 
Language Arts 
