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Symbolic Migration

Symbolic Monarch Migration Update: November 2, 2001

Today's Update Includes:


Masses of Symbolic Monarchs Arrive in Mexico!
The final count is in, and the Grand Total of Symbolic Butterflies that migrated to Mexico is ...........51,839!!

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Monarchs from 2,405 classrooms, 48 U.S. States and the District of Columbia, 7 Canadian Provinces, and 3 countries are included.


Everyone Wants to Know! Discussion of CQ #1
In an earlier Update, we asked you to estimate "How many Symbolic Butterflies do you think are flying to Mexico this year?"

Several classrooms provided very good estimates using our clues about the hours to finish the remaining envelopes, the hours put in already, and the number of Butterflies per envelope:

Mrs. Johnson's 4th grade class from Stringtown Elementary School in Evansville, Indiana estimated the number of symbolic butterflies to be approximately 44,500 (maj0104em@evsc.k12.in.us)

Tamarra Griffin estimated there were 45,298 symbolic butterflies.
(tamarragriffin@yahoo.com.au)

Mrs. Fields' class's from Peachtree City, GA (fields.lynda@fcboe.org) answered that there were 44,440 symbolic butterflies, and so did Shannon from North Carolina (JPasnc@aol.com)

Mrs. Caison's class from North Carolina also estimated 44,440 butterflies and explained that they calculated this estimate by first determining a number of envelopes processed Per Day: "Way we solved it: Students figured that there were 3 days more of 32 work hours needed. Three was divided into 1515 to determine the number of envelopes opened on average each day. That meant that there were 505 envelopes opened on the first day. Added 505 to 1515 to get 2020 then multiplied 2020 by 22 to get 44,440.We enjoyed it." 5th grade, Elkin Elementary School, NC (caisonk@mail.elkin.k12.nc.us)

We prepared an estimate using a slightly different approach--by focusing on the number of envelopes processed Per Hour. With this approach, we divided 1,515 by 96 hours, to get an hourly rate of 15.78 envelopes Per Hour. Next, we multiplied 15.78 by 32 hours (the hours spent on Monday), to determine they processed 505 envelopes that day. Adding 505 envelopes to 1,515 envelopes totaled 2,020 envelopes. Multiplying 2,020 envelopes by 22 butterflies per envelope gives the same estimate as Ms. Caison's class (44,440 total butterflies), but estimating it by a slightly different way!

Way to go everyone!


"Are We There Yet?": Discussion of CQ #2

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UPS driver Todd Stenstrom challenged you: "Exactly how many days, hours and minutes do you think it will take the Symbolic Butterflies to reach the front door of the Museo del Nino in Mexico City?"

You could almost hear the excitement from all three countries as the Symbolic Butterflies crossed the Mexican border! Right now they are in Customs in Mexico City.

Those of you who "tracking" the Symbolic Butterflies on the UPS Web site know that they arrived in Customs on October 31st at 1:43 p.m., only 1 day, 20 hours and 55 minutes after they left the Journey North office! (We know we asked you when they would arrive at the Museo del Nino, but Customs must be enjoying their beauty. Not to worry--they should arrive there soon!)


Nice Job!
Thanks to all classes who submitted their answers to these Challenge Questions. Many of you submitted very close estimates, and we're sorry we don't have space to list them all. You can see all of the answers by visiting:


Send Your Thanks to UPS
It's a long way from Minnesota to Mexico but, thanks to UPS, all your tens of thousands of butterflies received a free ride. We encourage you to please write and thank UPS directly. Without Mr. Ed Gill, COO of UPS Minnesota, this would not have been done!

Letters should be addressed and sent to:

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

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Thank You for Your Generous Gifts for Monarch Conservation!

Click on map to enlarge

A heartfelt thanks to the children and teachers at the 462 U.S. and Canadian schools listed below for their contributions to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation. At a time when our daily news is filled with tragedy, their example reminds us how people are still living with a spirit of giving and generosity.

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A total of $7,396.43 U.S. dollars was contributed during this fall's Symbolic Monarch Migration for conservation work in Mexico. Watch for news this winter about how these contributions are being used in Mexico by the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary Foundation.

Note: Help us with our list! This is a big job, with many names and much information to process.

If you notice a need for corrections, please write to our feedback form immediately and we will try to correct the situation.


Symbolic Migration Passenger List
If you haven't already done so, please carefully check for your school's name on the Symbolic Migration Passenger List, which is available below.

When doing so, please try to picture the task on this end, with 50,000+ butterflies. Posting the list is an opportunity for teachers to help us confirm receiving what they have sent, rather than discovering errors next spring.

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 Viaja Mariposas!



This is the FINAL Symbolic Monarch Migration Update.

Copyright 2001 Journey North. All Rights Reserved.
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