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Symbolic Butterfly Migration Update: November 18, 2003


And They're Off!
While you were boarding your bus or walking home from school today, your butterflies were also being readied to board for the long trip to their winter homes. Led by Beth Allen, everyone at the Journey North office was busy getting your Butterflies ready for the trip to Mexico--the final leg of their journey south. We carefully packed, sealed, and weighed all of the boxes, and Ruthan Gagner had the special UPS shipping labels ready to go, all in good time before UPS driver Sam Nyakundi arrived at Journey North to load up his truck.

Sam was so nice and he had a smile as wide as the migration route is long. He wanted you to know how happy he was that he could help send your butterflies on their way to Mexico.





Before leaving, Sam gave us the special UPS Tracking number, so that you can follow the migration LIVE all the way to Mexico. But first--Sam had a question for you. Watch the "Sam Cam" below, and look over the details of the travel itinerary that he left for you. See if you can answer Sam's Challenge Question. But don't wait too long, the Butterflies could catch a tail wind!





Watch the "Sam Cam" and
see if you answer
Challenge Question #1


Sam's Challenge Question #1: (Text version):
"Exactly how many days, hours and minutes do you think it will take the butterflies to reach Angangueo, Mexico?"

Itinerary Clues:
The butterflies are traveling via UPS' "Expedited" service. Here is the path they will take:

  • Start with the time the Butterflies were scanned in at UPS' State-Of-The-Art Package Hub in Maple Grove, MN--exactly 3:04 p.m. CST on Nov 17.

  • From the UPS Package Hub in Maple Grove, the butterflies will be FLOWN to Louisville, KY

  • From Louisville, they will FLY to Houston, TX

  • From Houston they will FLY to Mexico

  • Upon arrival in Mexico City, they will go through Customs.

  • Finally they will be TRUCKED to Angangueo in Mexico.

  • As you figure your answer, this information about the workday in Mexico might be helpful: People generally come to work at 9 a.m., they take a midday comida from 12 until 2, and return to work until about 7 p.m.

  • The Butterflies' Tracking number is: 4975 0761 048

(To respond to this Challenge Question, please follow the instructions at the end of this report and don't forget to show us how you calculated your answer.)


Ready for Your Butterflies in Mexico
With peak Monarch Butterfly migration completed, and your Symbolic Butterflies now on their way to Mexico, Rocio Trevino, Founder of Correo Real in Coahuila, Mexico said that the local children and teens who will be participating in the Symbolic Migration are now waiting for some of your paper butterflies to arrive. They plan to take special care of them for the entire winter, she said, and send them back north in March. Can you find Saltillo, Coahuila on a map?

Take the Journey North Challenge: How Many Butterflies?
While we were packing up the Butterflies, we wondered just how many you had sent us--we were buried in them! So, Jane, Elizabeth, Julie, Mary and Beth all went on camera to ask YOU the big question! Watch us on the video, read the hints below, and then see if can answer:

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Watch us ask YOU
Challenge Question #2
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Challenge Question #2:
"How many Symbolic Butterflies do you think are flying to Mexico this year?"(same question as in video)

Hints: Here's what we do know about the estimated total number of Symbolic Butterflies so far:

  • On Day One, our team spent a total of 17 hours processing butterflies.
  • On Day Two, our team spent a total of 13 hours processing butterflies.
  • Over Day One and Day Two, our team completed processing a total 581.5 envelopes.
  • After Days One and Two, our team spent lots of additional time processing all the remaining Butterflies, and this additional time equals 75% of the total hours spent processing all Butterflies.
  • On average each of the envelopes contained approximately 21.61 butterflies inside.

"All a Boaarrrd?!" Symbolic Migration Passenger List
Are all of your Symbolic Butterflies on board for Mexico?

IMPORTANT: Please carefully check for your school's name on this list:
PLEASE DON'T PANIC
If you sent butterflies to Journey North and you do not find your name on the list, please don't be alarmed. Just follow these steps:
  1. LOOK AGAIN! Please check the list very, very carefully. When teachers write us in despair, we find that over 75% simply didn't read carefully enough.

  2. Please do not write to us about spelling errors. With a plane to catch--and over 2,000 schools on board--we had to type quickly! We apologize in advance if your school's name is misspelled.

  3. If you're certain your name is not listed, send an E-mail to Journey North and let us know:
    our feedback form
    (Please include your full name and address, and the number of butterflies you sent.)

Buen Viaje Mariposas!


"Butterflies Were Migrating All Over the School!"
That's what Mrs. King's Third Grade Class said was happening at West Point Elementary School in West Point NY.

As part of a study of monarchs and other migrating species, Mrs. King's third graders decided to raise funds for the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation(MBSF) by creating and then selling "Spirit" butterflies to their classmates. The class figured that if they sold 80 butterflies at a quarter a piece, they would raise $20. Mrs. King said: "That seemed like a good amount of money to raise and a nice number of butterflies to sell." But something happened--in two days of their sale, they exceeded their goal--and sold over 400 Butterflies and raised $105.00 for MBSF. "That meant someone needed to make a lot more butterflies!!"

In addition to making, selling and donating the profits to MBSF, the students learned monarch trivia and all about the real monarch's fall migration route to Mexico. Way to go, third graders--now that's school "spirit"!

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Mrs King's Third Graders make a difference.
Now that's school spirit!

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Many of you sent donation checks for MBSF this season, and we can't thank you enough. Look at the figures below and see if you can answer Challenge Question #3:

Challenge Question #3:
"We received donation checks for the MBSF from approximately 45.13% of the 1,108 schools that sent in butterflies. Can you calculate how many schools sent in donation checks?"

More Butterflies Fly into the Art Gallery
Journey North's premiere art curator, Mary Hosier, has been busy adding more of your masterpieces to the Symbolic Migration Art Galleries. And recently, she paused for a moment after adding more butterflies and said:
"It seems that the over-riding theme I see in making these galleries of cool butterflies is SHARING the wonderful ideas and passing on creative ideas between teachers and students! Maybe you could suggest this to the readers of the Symbolic Update and have them bookmark the pages for inspiration next year?"

Great suggestion Mary!

Tour the Galleries, enjoy the artwork, and get inspired too:
Visit the Galleries

Do you see your Butterfly?
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Gallery One
Butterflies with Messages
Gallery Two
Realistic Butterflies
Gallery Three
Putting a Face on Your Monarch
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Gallery Four
Crazy for Collages
Gallery Five
Littlest Gems
Gallery Six
Delightfully Different
Gallery Seven
Sensationally Symetrical


Butterflies Fly Free, Thanks to UPS
Thanks to UPS, boxes full of your butterflies are now traveling to Mexico by UPS's special international cargo service. We hope you'll take the time to thank UPS (United Parcel Service) for this generous support. They love hearing from you!

We hope you'll take the time to send them a thank you note for their support
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Please send your thanks to:

Mr. Ed Gill
UPS Minnesota COO
3312 Broadway St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413


Mark your Calendar! Here What's Next for Your Symbolic Butterflies:

COMING NOVEMBER 25th
Total number of Symbolic Butterflies revealed.
Total days, hours and minutes it took to reach Mexico revealed.
List of donors to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation proudly displayed.
While your Butterflies are in the care of the Mexican people, read about life in the sanctuary region.

How to Respond to Today's Challenge Question

IMPORTANT: Answer only ONE question in each e-mail message.

1. Address an e-mail message to: jn-symbolic@learner.org
2. In the Subject Line of your message write: Challenge Question #1 (OR #2 OR #3)
3. In the body of the message, answer the question above.

The FINAL Symbolic Monarch Migration Update Will be Posted on November 25, 2003


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