Question: Where do you think the hundreds of monarchs that were flying on the shore of New York's Fire Island came from? (See story.)

Answer: This is a question that nobody can answer for certain. However, we can speculate and students did a great job of tha as you can see below. Most thought the monarchs might have come all the way from Canada!

This map shows how we thought about the problem. If the monarchs flew and blew all day, they could travel as far as 220 miles in a single day!

Here is our math:

• The wind was blowing from the northwest as fast as 22 knots per hour (at surface level). (See wind map.)
• If the monarchs flew and blew all day, from 8 am to 6 pm, they would travel for 10 hours.
• 10 hours X 22 knots per hour = 220 miles

Notice, we used the wind speed at ground level. If the monarchs flew in the upper level winds which are usually much faster, the butterflies certainly could have come from Canada as the students suspect.

Here are the students' answers:

• Cloverdale Elemetary in Virginia: Mrs. Busher's 2nd and 3rd grade students think the monarchs "probably came from our neighbor, Canada, in the north."
• Colonial Elementary The 3rd grade students think that the monarchs came from Canada. "We think this because Canada is north of Long Island."
• Peter Woodbury School in New Hampshire: Mrs. Nunnally's second grade class thinks from New York state and maybe Canada and the New England states.
• Peter Woodbury School in New Hampshire: Ms. Hoyt's students had different answers. Max thinks the Monarchs came from Boston because the wind was coming from the north east and Boston is North East of the island. Jacob thinks the Monarchs may have come from Providence because it it close to the island. He does not think the wind will blow them too far. If the wind blows them really far, they might die. Zuleima thinks they might have come from Conneticuit because they couldn't be blown farther than that. Once the butterflies were over the ocean, their instinct told them to fly back towards the land on a route to Mexico.