Complete metamorphosis has four stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult. A caterpillar is a butterfly larva. The larva eats and grows; body structures change during the pupal stage. The pupa is living, not a dead or simply sleeping adult. A chrysalis is a butterfly pupa; a cocoon is a covering made by some insects. Safety: No insect handling, breeding or purchased kits. Stop: Stop after the two paper life cycles. Do not collect eggs, rear insects or open a pupa.

Materials: Paper; Pencil 1. Draw four boxes in a ring. Copy the butterfly cards: egg—embryo develops; larva—caterpillar feeds and grows; pupa—adult structures develop while the body is reorganised; adult—butterfly can reproduce and lay eggs after mating. Add arrows to show the next generation. 2. Cover the stage names with folded paper edges. Read the descriptions and restore each name. Tell which stage eats and grows most in this simple comparison, and which is the main transformation stage. 3. Add a second ring for a ladybird beetle: egg → larva → pupa → adult. Write that a ladybird is a beetle, not an extra insect group outside beetles. Draw a long larva and a rounded adult as schematic shapes, not precise identification pictures. 4. Compare the two rings. Write one shared stage order and one difference in larval appearance. Correct this sentence: A caterpillar grows wings because it decides to fly. Use development rather than choice in the correction. Done: Finish two four-stage rings and correctly link larval feeding and pupal transformation to their stages. Proof: Keep the rings and corrected sentence. Note any stage names supplied while labels were covered. Stop: Stop after the two paper life cycles. Do not collect eggs, rear insects or open a pupa.