Monarch Butterflies
How Does Basking Warm a Butterfly?
What
do we want to find out?
Does color make a difference in the amount of the sun's energy that something
absorbs?
 |
Would
you go barefoot here on a hot summer day? |
Imagine that it's a hot summer day and . . .
- You're barefoot. Would you rather walk across a blacktop parking lot or a light-colored sidewalk?
- You want to stay cool. What kind of clothing would you wear? Would the color matter?
- You get into a car. How does the seat feel? What color is it?
Predict
Do you think color matters? Which colors do you think might absorb more
of the sun's energy than others? Why?
Investigate!
Materials:
3 all-cotton t-shirts: a white one, a black one, and a medium-colored
one (try to find an orange one to match the color of monarch wings).
- Place the shirts side-by-side on a sunny counter near the windows or in a sunny outdoor location.
- Wait 15 minutes.
- Close your eyes and take turns feeling the middle of each shirt. Do they all feel the same? If not, which feels warmest? Coolest?
(Optional Experiment Setups for Older Students >>)
Make Sense of Your Investigation
- What could you conclude? Does color make a difference in the amount of the sun's energy that something absorbs?
- If so, which colors seem to store more heat energy?
- How would you use your findings to help explain how the monarch's wings and thorax are adapted to survive in cool temperatures?
Find
Out What Scientists Think >>
