What it shows
Waste egg cartons can be turned into toys and decorations. A caterpillar model also shows the first stage of a butterfly.
The science
Cardboard is made from paper, and cartons can be reused many times. A caterpillar is the young form of a butterfly. It eats leaves, grows, makes a cocoon and turns into a butterfly. This change of body shape is called metamorphosis.
Materials
Cost: free. Many items come from home or from waste; spare parts such as LEDs, motors and wire are in the store.
- One cardboard egg carton (free)
- Poster paints and a brush
- Scissors
- Glue
- Pipe cleaners or thread
- Two small beads or paper for eyes
Safety
For this project: An adult must cut the carton and use the scissors.
Never use mains electricity: power models with cells, batteries or a low-voltage adapter. Sharp and hot tools, flames and lab chemicals need an adult or your teacher beside you. Keep magnets, button cells and small parts away from young children, and wash your hands after making.
All the safety rulesStep by step
8 steps. Do them in order, and test each part before you go on to the next. Write what you notice in a notebook as you go.
Ask an adult to cut the cups of the egg carton apart.
Cut each cup into a flower with petals by snipping the edges.
Paint the flowers in bright colours and let them dry.
Glue a button or bead to the centre of each flower.
For the caterpillar, cut a strip of six cups joined together.
Paint the strip green and glue on two eyes and two pipe cleaner feelers.
Put the flowers on green paper stalks and stand them in a pot of clay.
Tell the stages of the butterfly using your caterpillar.
What you should see
A bunch of cup flowers and a caterpillar, and you can name the four stages of a butterfly: egg, caterpillar, pupa and butterfly.
Viva questions
A teacher or a judge will ask how it works. Try to answer each question before you open it, then compare.
1What does a caterpillar become?
A butterfly.
2What are the four stages?
Egg, caterpillar, pupa and butterfly.
3What does a caterpillar eat?
Leaves.
4Why reuse egg cartons?
It saves paper and reduces waste.
Take it further
Watch a real caterpillar on a plant for a week and draw how it changes.
Change one thing, measure what happens, and add a table or chart of your readings: that is what turns a model into your own investigation.
Free ebooks for this project
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