VII Международный конкурс научно-исследовательских и творческих работ учащихся
Старт в науке
Чудо в моей жизни/ The miracle in my life
Автор работы награжден дипломом победителя III степени
Полная версия работы доступна во вкладке "Файлы работы" в формате PDF
Introduction
Every summer we can see a lot of butterflies. We look for them, admire them, catch them, collect them, but we never think of their difficult and interesting way of development and transformation. It is a real miracle of our nature. I decided to trace the life cycle of a butterfly, keeping it in domestic conditions.
The actuality of the research
Butterflies are great pollinators of plants. The number of butterflies has decreased in our area. As a result of it there is decrease of flowers. Decrease of butterflies is connected with many problems:
Bad ecology;
Caterpillars are eaten by birds;
They are poisoned by people;
They lose their lives under the wheels of the cars, etc.
So, I made a decision to help our nature a bit: to gather some caterpillars and try to turn them into the butterflies in domestic conditions, as one butterfly can pollinate more than a thousand flowers a day. That will lead to their further increase. Our nature will be more colorful if every person derives one or two butterflies.
The object of the research: caterpillars and butterflies
The subject of the research: stages of the development of a butterfly in the natural and domestic conditions
The aim of my research is: to conduct an experiment and to prove the possibility of transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly in domestic conditions.
The tasks of my research:
To study some peculiarities of life and nourishment of insects(butterflies)
To create favourable conditions for transformation of a caterpillar into a chrysalis and then the chrysalis into a butterfly at home
To watch the process of development and transformation and to tell the classmates about this rare natural phenomenon
Methods of the research:
Method of searching and collecting information on the selected topic (systematization, analysis, study, synthesis, comparison, data processing)
Method of visual observation beyond the stages of butterfly’s development
Modeling method: creating the artificial (man-made) conditions for growing caterpillars and then removing butterflies from them
Personal observations (photography and filming, keeping a diary)
The hypothesis of the research
They say that it’s impossible to hatch a butterfly in domestic conditions. As for me, I think that in order to hatch a butterfly at home you have to create and keep favourable conditions for this.
Main part
Chapter 1. Stages:
1.2 General information about butterflies
Butterflies belong to the class of invertebrates. They differ in size, appearance, but they are all covered with chitinous shells. Thanks to their developed nervous system butterflies distinguish colours, smells and sounds.
Butterflies can breath through the superfine tubes, which are penetrating the whole body. They can hear by the belly, because their “ears” are not on the head, but in the dimples which are located by the sides of the chest.
1.3 The beginning
One day I’ve seen a beautiful caterpillar in a big puddle. It was raining cats and dogs and I decided to save it. I took all things, which were around it: a twig - the caterpillar was sitting on it; a leaf- the caterpillar was eating it, a piece of bark – the caterpillar was hiding under it. I tried to create a tiny part of nature in a comfortable box. I was feeding my guest, warming it under the lamp, splashing some water on the leaves in the box like dew…
… and my caterpillar began to entangle itself with a thin thread. It turned into a chrysalis in 7 days. Unbelievable!!! I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I had to know much more about my guest to help it.
I opened the encyclopedia and began to read everything about butterflies.
1.4 Stages of development of the butterfly
Any butterfly goes through four stages of development:
1. an egg
2. a caterpillar
3. a chrysalis
4. an adult butterfly
Each stage is different from the previous one. This development of the butterflies is called the development with a full transformation or metamorphosis.
Metamorphosis is a modification, transformation or transition to another form of development with the obtaining of new appearance and some functions.
Adult butterflies lay very tiny eggs. They are so small that people can’t see them. My caterpillar appeared from such an egg too. All eggs of butterflies are of different colours and shapes. It depends upon climate and species of butterflies. Their eggs are covered with a hard capsule. Some eggs of butterflies may be eaten by other insects. The egg of my caterpillar had survived and it could appear.
1.5 The dinner for my guest. What does it like?
What do the butterflies eat in nature?
• It is well known that most butterflies feed on floral nectar;
Rotten fruits are on the second place of their preferences;
Many butterflies like to eat sap of the trees;
As for caterpillars, they eat leaves and some of them prefer insects.
What can the butterflies eat at home?
It is better to feed the butterflies once a day in captivity conditions. An aqueous solution with honey or sugar is very suitable for them. You can also include some rotten fruits in the butterflies’ diet. The choice of fruits is varied but fruits must be juicy.
My visitor was eager to eat only leaves.
Chapter 2 The period of the caterpillars’ life
Life of a caterpillar may last from 5 days till 7 years. It sleeps during the whole winter. When the caterpillar becomes quite large it stops eating.Now it is time to turn a caterpillar into a butterfly. It attaches to a leaf or a branch of a plant and hangs upside down. Then the caterpillar “pupates” - it turns into immobile position, but chrysalis is alive. The duration of the chrysalis’ stage varies from several weeks to several months (it depends on climate). And finally, a beautiful winged butterfly appears from the chrysalis.
Just a born butterfly breaks the cocoon, as the insect's head has already reached adult size. When the butterfly gets out of the pupa and dries its wings, it starts flying.
It is ready to pollinate a lot of flowers. The butterfly’s lifespan may last from 1 day to 2 weeks.
2.1 The secrets of the caterpillars and butterflies
The first secret: Colour of caterpillars helps them to defend themselves. The most beautiful and bright caterpillars are poisonous and even birds don’t eat them.
The second secret: a beautiful caterpillar can turn into an ugly butterfly and vise versa. There are many unusual caterpillars in our nature and nobody knows what butterflies will appear from them.
I’d found a photo of a similar caterpillar and understood that I would see the birth of a moth.
Chapter 3 The unbelievable transformation
So, I have found my caterpillar at the moment of its transformation.
The chrysalis was hanging on the twig, which I had brought with it. I warmed the chrysalis under the lamp and it began to grow fast.
20 days passed. The chrysalis began to move and tremble. I thought that it couldn’t get out its capsule. I cut it. There was an ugly creature with enormous eyes.
Look at it! It does not look like a butterfly!
It was displeased. I put my chrysalis into the capsule again. It was there one more week.
I’ve read that a chrysalis becomes dry and limpid when the time of birth comes. Then a capsule breaks and a butterfly gets out of it. The butterfly can’t fly at the first moment.
My miracle didn’t move for half an hour. Then its wings began to tremble. The beautiful moth flew to a window. I took some pictures of it. Then I opened the window and my miracle flew away very fast. My experiment was crowned with success.
3.1 Recommendations for the keeping caterpillars at home.
In order to remove and keep caterpillars in domestic conditions you should follow the rules:
Firstly, you need to know what kind of food this caterpillar eats.
If you find a caterpillar on the road, you must look around for what plants grow nearby and you should make sure these plants are suitable for feeding of this type of caterpillars.
If you find a caterpillar on a leaf of a tree or a plant, you should not tear it from the leaf, you can easily destroy the paws’ tips of the caterpillar. It may die quickly. It is better to take it home with this leaf or a branch of a plant.
You can use a glass vessel as a house for the caterpillar.
The light in the glass vessel should be spread evenly.
During the stage of pupation the caterpillar should not be touched at all.
The butterfly’s dwelling should be dry, but you should splash some water on the leaves.
On the second day after hatching a butterfly from the cocoon, you must begin to feed it. Honey syrup is the most favorite delicacy for the butterfly; it is cooked in the proportion of 1 spoon of honey to 10 spoons of water.
Never touch butterfly’s wings!
Food and water should be always fresh.
Conclusion
The results of the research
After my experiment I can draw the following conclusion:
By means of studying some peculiarities of life and nourishment of butterflies and due to observing the necessary conditions of their development and transformation, I have proved the possibility of keeping butterflies in domestic conditions.
In the course of my experiment I could turn a caterpillar into a chrysalis and the chrysalis into a butterfly in domestic conditions. My hypothesis has been confirmed and now I know that it’s possible to hatch a butterfly at home, keeping the favourable conditions for its daily life in captivity.
In my opinion, the butterfly is the most beautiful insect on our Earth. Life of a butterfly lasts from some hours to some weeks but one butterfly can pollinate more than a thousand flowers a day. To preserve these delicate creatures which are given us by nature, we must take care of them and protect each kind of butterflies from extinction.
Using the visual result of my research, I’m going to continue providing my own useful input into the work of the environmental protection. I would like to involve in this movement all those who are not indifferent to the world in which we will live further.
1.2 Self-examination
The experiment helped me to get new skills, to acquire new habits of work with the scientific literature on this theme. Thanks to this work I began to value every day of our life and I try to make something useful every day.
I’ve realized that any person can create any miracle if he wants. I’m eager to continue my research. I hope my work will help people to think more about our nature.
My future butterflies (caterpillars) are sleeping in the box on my balcony now. I hope they will pollinate a lot of flowers this summer and help our nature.
List of used literature and sources
1.Бабочки и мотыльки / Перевод с английского Васильева Б.Д.- М.:
РОСМЭН-ПРЕСС, 2011г. - 64с .
2. Дунаева Ю.А. Бабочки-СПб. «БКК» 2009г.- 96с
3. Жизнь животных. Том 3. Под редакцией, М.: «Просвещение», 1984.- с. 308-309.
4. Пасечник В.В., Суматохин С.В., Калинова Г.С. / Под ред. Пасечника В.В. Биология 7 класс, М.: "Просвещение", 2017г.- 256 с.
5. Пономарёв И.Н. Биология
7 класс «Животные», М.: «Вентана-Граф», 2006г.-133 с.
6. Сайт "Википедия"
http//www/Wikipedia.jrg
7. Сайт "Зоодруг"
http//www/zoodrug.ru/topic1939.html
8. Сайт "Про животных: интернет-журнал Энимал Ридер"
https://animalreader.ru/morfo-bolshie-i-neveroyatno-krasivyie-babochki.html