Maria Sibylla Merian was born in 1647 in Germany and was an explorer and will always be known in the science and art world for her detailed drawings of nature.  Her illustrations were so detailed that people thought the bugs would jump right off the page! She discovered how caterpillars change into butterflies, also known as metamorphosis.  Maria is the first woman known to travel the world for her scientific research. She spent two years in Suriname (South America) painting exotic animals surrounded by the plants that they relied on.  Maria was highly regarded in both the art and science world and she was even featured on German money!  Maria died in 1717, but she is still admired by many (including Sir David Attenborough) and the species of at least six plants, nine butterflies, two bugs, one spider and a lizard are named after her.  

Activities:

1. Create your own piece of science artwork.  You could use different paints e.g. watercolours or drawing materials e.g charcoal, pastels, pencils.  Maybe you could use art drawing techniques such as stippling and hatching. 

2. Make a model of the stages in a butterfly lifecycle with playdough or recreate it by acting it out.  

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