Teachers' Guide for October 27, 2006
The suggestions below will help you integrate Journey North's real-time program in the classroom. This guide accompanies the Monarch Migration Update for October 27, 2006.
 

1) Geography and Migration: Read for Detail
Dr. Calvert says Mexico's geography funnels the migration. The monarchs travel along the specific and narrow path that they do because of several important geographic features (Gulf of Mexico, Sierra Madres Mountains).

Have students read the scientist's description of the migration pathway. (These Reading Strategies may help students comprehend difficult text.) As they read, encouage students to mark up the text:

  • Underline the names of the towns
  • Circle the names of the states
  • List the geographic features
  • Star sentences that the describe how monarchs migrate through the region (ways they benefit, eg. wind.)

2) Make a Map
On a blank map of Mexico find and label the geographic and political features important to the migration:

  • Gulf of Mexico
  • Pacific Ocean
  • Sierra Madres Mountains
  • U.S./Mexican border
  • Rio Grande River
  • Chihuahuan desert (See resource map)
  • The states the migration passes through:
  • The cities Dr. Calvert names (Monterrey, Mexico City, etc.)

3) Reflect in Science Journals: Ask, If you could go to Mexico to observe the migration, where on the map would you choose to go? Why would this place be important?

4) Inquiry Strategies: Ask, How Do We Know?
Remind students that Dr. Calvert's understanding about the migration pathway is based on observations. Brainstorm: what barriers might get in the way of collecting this information? To start the discussion, point out how few reports are on the Journey North map below the U.S. border. Make a list. (Language barriers; lack of communication between scientists and people of different countries; socioeconomic differences; the remote region--desert/mountains; the challenges of making ANY migration observations.)

Materials and Links

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