Explore
the Monarch's Winter Habitat in Mexico |
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Introduction
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This Teacher Guide provides a framework and tools for exploring the monarch's winter habitat in Mexico through a collection of images. Use the photos and activities as a springboard to address the essential question: How do the winter sanctuaries in Mexico meet the monarchs' needs for survival? Included here: |
Observation
is the cornerstone of scientific inquiry. |
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Prepare for Instruction | |||
Before introducing the instructional activities (below) to your students:
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Questions to Inspire Close Observation
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Choose From the Instructional Activities: | |||
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Activate Prior Knowledge: Send a Postcard from Mexico | |||
Purpose:
Determine what
students know (and do not know) about the winter habitat of monarchs. Assess
their background knowledge and pique their curiosity by having them share
what they imagine when they think about the monarchs' winter stay in Mexico.
Begin with a summary of the monarchs’ fall migration, reminding students that the butterflies flew thousands of miles to reach their winter habitat. Use questions to spark students’ thinking about Mexico: What's it like in Mexico where the monarchs spend the winter? What kind of habitat do monarchs need in order to survive in the winter? Ask students to imagine receiving a postcard from a monarch. Pass out index cards and invite them to create Monarch Postcards that show and describe the winter habitat. As students are working, spark their thinking and curiosity by asking detail-specific questions: What kind of place do you see when you imagine the monarchs’ winter habitat? What do you imagine the monarchs are doing for the four or five months they are in Mexico? What kind of place does your picture show (desert, prairie, beach, forest, backyard garden)? What is the weather like? What are the seasons like in Mexico? What are the monarchs doing in your picture? Challenge them to add details to their postcards as they think about the questions you pose. |
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Take a “Wonder Walk” | |||
Purpose: Help students experience a walk through the winter habitat of monarch butterflies. Activity: Present a series of photos from the gallery to help students experience a “wonder walk” through an oyamel forest in Mexico. Establish a sense of quiet as students imagine stepping into the winter world of monarchs in Mexico. Invite them to capture their thoughts, feelings, questions, and wonderings on the “Wonder Walk” journal page.
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Journal
Page |
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Take a Scientific Tour of a Monarch Sanctuary | |||
Purpose: Build strong scientific observation and communication skills. Activity: Have students imagine a tour of the monarch sanctuary through the eyes of a scientist. What questions would a scientist ask? What sketches and notes would an “inquiring mind” record in a field guide? Invite students to “walk” through the photo gallery as a scientist on a quest for clues. Choose from the selection of student handouts to help students capture their observations and scientific questions. Encourage them to examine the photos carefully and record observations, write questions, and pose hypotheses. Provide an opportunity for them to share their work in small groups.
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Journal
Page Example
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Examine Photos With the Eyes of a Writer | |||
Purpose: Build and strengthen communication skills. Develop descriptive writing skills. Activity: Writers collect words to help them describe the world. Have students imagine a tour of the monarch sanctuary through the eyes of a writer. What sketches and notes would a poet write in his or her journal? Invite students to revisit the photo gallery as a poet on a quest for descriptive details. Use the “A Writer’s Quest for Details” chart to help students use a variety of writing strategies to “find the words” that describe a monarch’s winter habitat. Invite them to use the collected words and phrases to write captions for specific photos. When students read observers’ accounts of their trips to the monarch sanctuaries, encourage them to collect the words and phrases the authors used to describe the experience.
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Journal
Page Example
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Draw from the Collection of Observation Handouts | |||
You can use this collection of observation handouts for many purposes. Print and pass out copies to guide observations of Journey North photos, video clips and the natural world.
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Explore these related links for background information and additional ideas. |
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Assess Student Observations | |||
You can use the list of Questions to Inspire Close Observation and any of the observation handouts above to assess your students' thinking and growth. Ask yourself these types of questions as you review their responses:
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