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Grade 6 · Choose your own research adventure

The Butterfly Code

A 10-year-old walked into a hall full of world-famous scientists and told them butterflies remember their caterpillar days. Then he proved it. Today the lab is yours.

Who's in the lab today?

No password, no email, no account. Your stars and badges are saved on this device only.

Built for Grade 6 Science · Inquiry & Method (6.IM.1–6.IM.15)

Step 2 of 2

Set up your research lab

This is the name that shows on the leaderboard.

Sharing a Chromebook? A PIN stops a classmate opening your lab by mistake. Forget it and you can just start a new lab.

CASE FILE 001

The hook

Jo didn't wait to grow up.

Jo Nagai was 10 years old. Not a professor. Not a PhD student. A kid who raised caterpillars in his room and noticed something strange.

The butterflies he had raised would land calmly on his hand. Wild butterflies flew away the second he came close. Same species. Different behaviour. Why?

Most people would shrug. Jo wrote a four-page handwritten letter to a scientist and asked for help. Years later he stood in front of the International Congress of Entomology and presented findings that made a room full of experts go quiet.

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Jo Nagai"I wasn't clever. I was just really, really curious — and I wrote everything down."

Video not loading? Watch it here: youtube.com/watch?v=nhESxrqPjfU

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Dr. Martha Weiss · biologist"A real question beats a fancy title. Bring me a question and a fair test, and we can do science together."

Your mission

Rebuild Jo's investigation across three levels. Earn ⭐ stars for good thinking, collect 🏅 badges, and climb the leaderboard. Beat Jo's benchmark of 100 stars and you've matched a 10-year-old who shook the world of science.

Lab map

Where to next, researcher?

Finish a level to unlock the next one. You can replay any level you've already opened.