Butterflies and moths are symmetrical.  Look at a butterfly or moth and see if you can spot the symmetry. Lots of artists use symmetry in their work. African art offers many examples of geometric designs, which show symmetry. Symmetrical patterns occur in nature all over the place.

HOW TO MAKE A BALANCING BUTTERFLY.

YOU WILL NEED

card

butterfly template

paper glue

felt tip pens or crayons

scissors

 sticky tape

       2 pennies for each butterfly (you could use sticky tack instead)

Colour your butterfly template, using your felt tip pens or crayons.

Glue the paper template to card.

Cut the card around the template.

Using the sticky tape, attach a penny to the underside of each wing. (If you can’t find pennies two equal blobs of sticky tack might work instead.)

Balance your butterfly on a pencil or stick.

VARIATION ON A THEME

Colour in the underside of the butterfly.

Instead of taping the pennies to the underside of the wings, tape them to the top.

Make a small hole in the butterfly’s body. You could do this by placing it onto a blob of sticky tack and pushing a sharp pencil into the body and the tack.

Attach some string or elastic to the centre of the body.

Tie a knot in one end, to stop the string coming out of the hole.

Hang your butterfly or moth from the ceiling.

You could make a great classroom/bedroom display if you have lots of them!

You could try the same idea with other bilaterally symmetrical animals, especially ones that can fly.

Can you think of any more?