RAISING MONARCH BUTTERFLIES IN THE CLASSROOM
Primary and Intermediate Grades
Objectives:
1. Student will comprehend the four life stages of a butterfly.
2. Student will comprehend the characteristics of a monarch butterfly, including life cycle and migration.
3. Student will experience being part of an international scientific research project.
What I did:
Early in the summer I planted milkweed seeds and grew them in a pot.
I collected monarch eggs during middle and late August and placed the emerging larvae in separate, numbered baby food jars.
I gathered milkweed leaves, washed them and kept them refrigerated in a Ziploc bag for feeding to the larvae.
In addition, I captured a wild male and female and placed them in a net cage (3’ x 3’). After they mated the female laid eggs on the milkweed, which I placed in the cage.
I discovered that I could slow the development of the larvae by placing them in the refrigerator and bringing them out for several hours each day. I did the same with eggs, in order to be able to show students eggs that hadn’t hatched.
What I did with students:
When school started, each student was assigned to a larva, which he/she observed, measured, drew, recorded growth and described behavior in a journal.
As their larvae grew, students read and heard about each stage, including migration.
When the butterflies emerged, students learned about the research tagging project at the University of Kansas, Monarch Watch. Intermediate students helped tag and release the monarchs. I demonstrated the tagging for the younger students.
We then tracked the monarch migration and sent our observations to Monarch Watch and Journey North of monarchs arriving in Lincoln.
SOURCES FOR MORE INFORMATION
http://www.monarchcanada.org/monarch.htm Monarch Fact Sheet
http://www.monarchwatch.org/ Monarch Watch