In Singapore, there used to be more than 324 species of butterflies. Some have gone extinct due to loss of habitat. Butterflies lay eggs on specific plants which becomes the caterpillar’s food. With urban development, many of these food plants are gone.
So what will happen if Singapore continues to lose more of its butterfly species?
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We will have fewer butterfly species to admire and enjoy in our gardens, parks and especially forests where most of the butterflies live.
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The reproduction of trees and plants will be affected as butterflies help to pollinate flowers to produce fruits.
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Our biodiversity will be reduced.
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Both wildlife and our environment’s well-being will be affected since butterflies and their caterpillars are a part of the nature’s food chain.
Therefore, my school decided to embark on “Save the butterflies” journey, which was also decided by the most votes of the N2 to K2 children in my centre.
We planned to:
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to learn more about local butterfly species
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to share knowledge with others through creative ways
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to grow food plants for butterflies in school or at home.
However, things do not always go our way as looking for resources and community partners were a little challenging. We persevered and tried to find other resources. We started preparing for our SSDB Virtual Launch in our centre which took place on 6th April 2018. Below are some pictures, showing what we did for our launch.
After much discussion with my colleagues, we just decided to keep our project as simple as possible yet meaningful for the children. So, we ordered butterfly kits for all the children. They learnt to work as partners in taking care of the caterpillars, despite having fears initially. This learning experience was considered as our June holiday programme, which the children learnt to explore and find out more about caterpillars and butterflies. Children also learnt to be compassionate towards butterflies by releasing them. Children were very excited to see the butterflies once they were released.
We also incorporated Kindness Week which is a part of SSDB.
On 20th July 2018, we set up a carnival by integrating Racial Harmony Day with our SSDB project. Participants were encouraged to wear traditional costumes. All our activities at the stations were butterfly-themed. Enjoy the pictures!
To further support this project, we planned a learning journey to the Butterfly Park at Sentosa on 27th July 2018, involving the families. It was a great experience as everyone had a chance to learn more about butterflies in details. They also had the opportunity to meet and touch the parrots, iguana and stick insect. Below are some pictures taken at the Butterfly Park.
As part of a learning journey, children had the option to purchase the butterfly kits which they could bring home to take care of the caterpillars till they grow into butterflies. Children were able to share their observations on their caterpillar and describe the stage of their caterpillars. Below is one successful caterpillar that had grown into a beautiful butterfly before being released.
What I learnt from this SSDB project was to just keep things simple. I learnt to start from little things for the young children. This is the first time I led a project for my centre from planning to execution. I would like to thank all my colleagues who believed in me and put in their most effort to help this project run smoothly from the start till the end.
