Ever wonder where a butterfly comes from? It comes from a chrysalis (KRIS-uh-liss) which is also called a pupa. A chrysalis looks like a tiny leathery pouch. You can find one underneath some leaves in the summer.

Some animals don't change much as they grow up. Think about it: someone your age looks a lot like a grown-up. Grown-ups have more wrinkles and gray hair. But they still have two arms, two legs and one head—just like you.

We're going to meet an animal that's very different—the butterfly. Butterflies go through four life stages, and they look very different at each stage.

• Toilet-paper tube
  
  
• Tongue depressor or ice-cream pop stick
  
  
• Heavy paper
  
  
• 6" (150 mm) piece of pipe cleaner, folded in half
  
  
• Markers or crayons
  
  
• Scissors and glue
  
  

1. Cut out and color a butterfly from the heavy paper. Use any colors, but make both halves look the same. Put a small hole at the top of the butterfly's head.

2. Color the toilet paper tube to look like a chrysalis. (A monarch butterfly's chrysalis is green, but you can use any color.)

3. Take a piece of pipe cleaner and shape it like the letter "V". Put one point through the little hole in the butterfly's head and then twist it to look like antennae. Butterflies use these "feelers" to learn about their environment.

4. Glue the butterfly to one end of the tongue depressor or ice-cream pop stick. Let the glue dry.

5. Curl the butterfly's wings and slide it into the chrysalis.

6. Pull the stick to make the beautiful butterfly come out of the chrysalis.

Fly your butterfly like a real one!

Butterflies go four stages of life, but they only look like butterflies in the final stage. Birds, frogs, snakes and insects also change as they grow.

1. An adult butterfly lays an egg.

2. The egg hatches into a caterpillar or larva.

3. The caterpillar forms the chrysalis or pupa.

4. The chrysalis matures into a butterfly.