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THE PHYSICAL EDITION

Nibbles and Wings

Follow Vince's return visits to a leaf-nibbling monarch caterpillar. A shed skin, an upside-down hang, a green chrysalis and unfolding wings lead to flight and flower sipping. Look closely at what changes while Vince watches and waits.

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Explore the science

Leaf feedingPages 1–2

Vince finds a striped caterpillar with its mouth beside a missing piece of leaf. Monarch caterpillars chew milkweed leaves. The missing edge and feeding position connect the animal with the changed leaf.

Ask together: What do you notice beside the caterpillar's head?

A larval moltPages 3–4

Across later visits, Vince watches the caterpillar; a close view shows rumpled old skin behind its intact striped body. A monarch sheds its outer skin several times as it grows. After these early molts, it is still a caterpillar. The old skin may soon be eaten.

Ask together: What looks different at the two ends of the caterpillar?

Moving and attachingPages 5–6

The caterpillar is on a wooden rail, then hangs beneath it in a J shape from a small silk pad. A mature monarch caterpillar may leave its food plant. It attaches by its rear end to silk before the next change.

Ask together: Where is the hanging caterpillar holding on?

Becoming a pupaPages 7–8

Striped skin bunches upward, revealing a green form. Later, a smooth chrysalis hangs from the same rail. The last larval skin sheds to reveal the chrysalis. This pupa is a living developmental stage; the caterpillar has not built a silk cocoon around itself.

Ask together: What has changed, and what stays in the same place?

Change during the pupal stagePages 9–10

Vince returns to the green chrysalis. A later close view reveals an orange-and-black wing pattern. The adult develops during the pupal stage. Near emergence, its wing pattern becomes visible through the case. Repeated visits may show no visible change before this happens.

Ask together: What can Vince see now that he could not see before?

Emergence and wing expansionPages 11–12

The emerging butterfly has small crumpled wings. In the next view, it remains hanging with long expanded wings. A butterfly pumps fluid into its wings after emerging. It needs time for them to expand and become ready before it can fly; Vince leaves them untouched.

Ask together: What changes while the butterfly stays hanging?

Flight and nectar sippingPages 13–14

The butterfly flies away from the rail, then rests on a coneflower with a slender mouthpart reaching its center. The adult drinks nectar through a proboscis. Its flight and flower sipping contrast with the caterpillar's crawling and leaf chewing at the beginning.

Ask together: How is its food different from the first pages?

Sources and evidence

  1. Monarch caterpillars chew milkweed leaves; adult monarchs drink nectar from flowers.

    Monarch | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

    Metamorphosis: The Life Stages of a Monarch Butterfly on Milkweed, FS-1144

    Monarch Butterfly on Purple Coneflower | U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

    This is a monarch feeding on milkweed; other caterpillars have different food plants. A butterfly may drink from several kinds of nectar-bearing flower.

  2. A growing monarch caterpillar sheds its old outer skin and remains a caterpillar through its larval molts.

    Life Cycle | Monarch Joint Venture

    Metamorphosis, FS-1144

    The illustrated moments are separated by days. Their sizes are not measurements. The exposed old skin may soon be eaten.

  3. A mature monarch caterpillar commonly leaves its feeding plant, attaches a silk pad to a support and hangs in a J before pupating.

    Life Cycle | Monarch Joint Venture

    Metamorphosis, FS-1144

    The wooden rail is one possible support. The caterpillar hangs by its rear end; a monarch chrysalis is not a silk cocoon.

  4. The last larval skin is shed to reveal a chrysalis; it is a living pupal stage, and adult wing colours become visible before emergence.

    Metamorphosis, FS-1144

    Life Cycle | Monarch Joint Venture

    The pupa is a living stage, not an empty house containing an unchanged caterpillar. The pictures show different moments.

  5. A monarch emerges with small crumpled wings, then pumps fluid into them so they expand while it hangs; it flies after its wings are ready.

    Monarch Butterfly and Caterpillar | University of Maine Cooperative Extension

    Life Cycle | Monarch Joint Venture

    Crumpled and expanded wings are separated in time. The butterfly remains supported while they expand; no exact duration is promised.

  6. Development takes time and depends on conditions; an outdoor observer may miss a stage or lose sight of an animal. Not every caterpillar reaches adulthood.

    Metamorphosis, FS-1144

    Life Cycle | Monarch Joint Venture

    Monarch Larva Monitoring Project: Frequently Asked Questions

    Timing depends on conditions. An outdoor observer may miss a stage or lose sight of the animal, and not every caterpillar reaches adulthood. The story follows one successful journey.

Water and Wind

Water and Wind, pages 1–2: Wind moves the pinwheel.

Spread 1 / 12

Wind tickles my cheek. Round goes my pinwheel.

Explore the science

Wind & forcesPages 1–2

Wind moves the pinwheel. Wind is moving air. Vince feels it on his cheek and sees it push the pinwheel's angled blades.

Ask together: What tells you that the air is moving?

Currents & eddiesPages 3–4

Water passes the rock. A leaf circles behind it. Most water passes the rock; some circles back in an eddy. Laminar flow is orderly; turbulence is irregular, mixing motion. A swirl alone cannot distinguish them.

Ask together: How does the leaf move compared with the water passing the rock?

Waves & energyPages 5–6

Waves spread from the stream. The duck bobs. The falling stream makes waves that carry energy outward and make the toys bob. The stream's current also carries toys along. Bobbing and drifting are different motions.

Ask together: What moves up and down? What moves along the pond?

BuoyancyPages 7–8

A duck floats. A pebble sinks. Water pushes upward on both objects. This buoyancy balances the duck's weight, but not the pebble's. The pebble's splash makes the rings on the next spread.

Ask together: Where is each object compared with the surface?

When waves meetPages 9–10

Two wave patterns approach one another. When gentle waves overlap, their heights add, briefly raising or lowering the surface. This interference does not erase the waves; they continue through one another.

Ask together: What might happen where the two patterns meet?

Surface tensionPages 11–12

Tiny dents appear beneath the strider’s legs. Surface tension helps support the strider where its water-repellent legs dent the water. The duck floats mainly by displacing water.

Ask together: What do you notice where its legs meet the water?

Suction & pressurePages 13–14

The duck bubbles, fills and squirts. Squeeze underwater: air bubbles out. Release with the opening submerged: the elastic duck springs back, lowering pressure inside. The surrounding water pressure pushes water in. Squeeze above water: water exits through that same opening.

Ask together: What changes when Vince squeezes and then lets go?

Lift & gravityPages 15–16

A paper plane glides forward and down. The throw starts the plane moving. Airflow around its wings produces lift and turns air downward. Gravity pulls down; drag resists motion. In still air, the plane glides forward and gradually descends.

Ask together: Where might the plane go next?

ViscosityPages 17–18

Milk runs. Honey stretches into a thread. Honey's greater viscosity means greater resistance to flow. It makes a slow thread while milk runs readily. Temperature and pouring method also matter; this snack is an observation, not a controlled test.

Ask together: How do the milk and honey move differently?

Draining & swirlingPages 19–20

Foam curves inward toward the drain. Gravity drives water through the drain. Existing turning motion can become a curved inward flow, traced by foam. Here water travels to the outlet, unlike waves crossing the pond. Not every drain swirls.

Ask together: Can you follow the foam toward the drain?

Scientific observationPages 21–22

Vince sketches what he noticed. Vince records something he noticed. Drawings, marks or words let him return to an observation. He does not need all the answers.

Ask together: Which earlier picture matches one of his drawings?

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