National
Science Education Standard
|
Journey
North Monarch Activity or Lesson |
| SCIENCE
AS INQUIRY
ABILITIES NECESSARY TO DO SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY |
| Ask
a question about objects, organisms, events. (K-4) |
Caterpillar Feast
Larva Locomotion:
A Closer Look
A Butterfly
is Born
Feeding a Butterfly
in Dr. Fink's Kitchen
Monitoring Habitat
While You Wait
Monarch Butterfly Migration
Checklist
Mystery Monarch
Adaptation
Monarch on
the Move, or Mistaken Sighting
A Case of Mistaken
Identity |
| Plan
and conduct a simple investigation. (K-4) |
Life
is Sweet for Monarchs |
| Employ
simple equipment/tools to gather data and extend senses. (K-4) |
Monarch
Butterfly Migration Checklist
The Monarch's Journey
North |
| Use
data to conduct a reasonable explanation. (K-4) |
Predicting
Monarchs' Spring Migration Route
Caterpillar Feast
Larva Locomotion:
A Closer Look
Which Grows Faster:
Monarch or Milkweed?
Expecting
Monarchs in Arkansas
Predicting
the 1st Spring Generation
Monitoring Spring
Habitat While You Wait
Monarchs in the News:
Write a Column
Do Monarchs
Migrate Across the Gulf?
Mass Migration
in California: But Were They Monarchs?
Human Population
Centers and Monarch Reports
Which Monarchs Are
Migrating from Mexico?
Comparing
Monarch Migration Patterns from Year to Year
Flower-powered
Migratory Species: Compare/Contrast
Expecting
Monarchs in Arkansas: News from the Nursery
Monarch on
the Move, or Mistaken Sighting
The Monarch's Journey
North
Local or Migratory
Butterfly: Looking for Evidence
New Butterfly or
Old: Watching the Wings for Clues
Comparing
Monarch Migration Patterns From Year to Year |
| Identify
questions that can be answered through scientific investigations.
(5-8) |
Larva Locomotion:
A Closer Look |
| Use
appropriate tools and techniques to gather, analyze, and interpret
data. (5-8) |
Monarch
Butterfly Migration Checklist |
| Develop
descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence.
(5-8) |
Predicting
the 1st Spring Generation
Monitoring Spring
Habitat While You Wait
Monarchs in the News:
Write a Column
Mass Migration
in California: But Were They Monarchs?
Flower-powered
Migratory Species: Compare/Contrast
The Monarch's Journey
North
Local or Migratory
Butterfly: Looking for Evidence
Comparing
Monarch Migration Patterns From Year to Year |
| Think
critically and logically to make relationship between evidence and
explanations. (5-8) |
Predicting
the Spring Migration Route
Mass Migration
in California: But Were They Monarchs?
Human Population
Centers and Monarch Reports
Monarch on the
Move, or Mistaken Sighting
The Monarch's Journey
North
Local or Migratory
Butterfly: Looking for Evidence
Comparing
Monarch Migration Patterns From Year to Year |
| Recognize/analyze
alternative explanations and predictions. (5-8) |
Human Population
Centers and Monarch Reports |
| Use
math in all aspects of scientific inquiry. (5-8) |
Which Grows Faster:
Monarch or Milkweed?
Predicting the
1st Spring Generation
When Do Monarchs Normally
Arrive in Your Home Town?
How Many
Eggs Can a Single Monarch Lay?
Two Thousand Times
in Just Two Weeks - How Much Would You Weigh? |
| UNDERSTANDINGS
ABOUT SCIENCE INQUIRY |
| Science
investigations involve asking and answering a question and comparing
that to what scientists already know about the world. (K-4) |
Caterpillar Identification
Quiz
Herbivores
and Plants: A Coevolutionary Arms Race
Mass Migration
in California: But Were They Monarchs?
Monarch on the
Move, or Mistaken Sighting
Sightings Wanted: Can You
Tell a Viceroy from a Monarch?
New Butterfly or Old:
Watching the Wings for Clues
Time
to Revisit Views About Monarch Migration?
|
| Scientists
use different kinds of investigations depending on the questions they
are trying to answer. Types of investigations include describing objects,
events, and organisms; classifying them; and doing a fair test (experimenting).
(K-4) |
Herbivores
and Plants: A Coevolutionary Arms Race
Predators and Parasites
on the Prowl
Male vs. Female Monarch
Behavior
Expecting
Monarchs in Arkansas
Practice with Butterfly
Identification
Monitoring Habitat
While You Wait
Monarch Butterfly Migration
Checklist |
| Simple
instruments, such as magnifiers, thermometers, and rulers, provide
more information than scientists obtain using only their senses. (K-4) |
Why Does the
Chrysalis Twist ? (Video clip)
Life is
Sweet for Monarchs
Flapping
Flight: a Look at Flight in Slow Motion
|
| Scientists
develop explanations using observations (evidence) and what they already
know about the world. Good explanations are based on evidence from
investigations. (K-4) |
Herbivores
and Plants: A Coevolutionary Arms Race
Mass Migration
in California: But Were They Monarchs?
Monarch on the
Move, or Mistaken Sighting
Analyzing
Migration Maps: Watch Your Language
Local or Migratory
Butterfly: Looking for Evidence
Time
to Revisit Views About Monarch Migration?
|
| Scientists
make the results of their investigations public; they describe the
investigations in ways that enable others to repeat the investigations.
(K-4) |
Herbivores
and Plants: A Coevolutionary Arms Race |
| Different
kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations.
Some involve observing and describing objects, organisms, or events;
some involve collecting specimens; some involve experiments; some
involve seeking more information; some involve discovery of new objects
and phenomena; and some involve making models. (5-8) |
Herbivores
and Plants: A Coevolutionary Arms Race
Male vs. Female Monarch
Behavior
Practice with Butterfly
Identification
Monitoring Habitat
While You Wait
Monarch Butterfly Migration
Checklist |
| Current
scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations.
(5-8) |
Time
to Revisit Views About Monarch Migration? |
| Scientific
explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent arguments,
and use scientific principles, models, and theories. The scientific
community accepts and uses such explanations until displaced by better
scientific ones. When such displacement occurs, science advances.
(5-8) |
Herbivores
and Plants: A Coevolutionary Arms Race S
Monarch on the
Move, or Mistaken Sighting S
Time
to Revisit Views About Monarch Migration? S
|
| Mathematics
is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry. (5-8) |
|
| LIFE
SCIENCE
THE
CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANISMS |
| Organisms
have basic needs. For example, animals need air, water and food; plants
require air, water, nutrients, and light. Organisms can survive only
in environments in which their needs can be met. The world has many
different environments, and distinct ones support the life of different
types of organisms. (K-4) |
A Look at the Life of
a Monarch Caterpillar
A Day in the Life of
a Butterfly Egg
Life of a Monarch Caterpillar
Caterpillar Feast
Exploring Milkweed
Ecology
Life is
Sweet for Monarchs
How is a Human
Vacation Like Monarch Migration?
Story of a Life's Journey
Flower-powered
Migratory Species: Compare/Contrast
Milkweeds
and Monarchs: Comparing Adaptation Strategies
Can YOU Find the
Monarch's Winter Home in Mexico?
More
Photos, Maps, Landscape Views
Monarchs are Cold-blooded
Creatures: The Basics
Why
Come Back North in the Spring
Speaking of Eggs: A Conversation
with Dr. Brower |
| Each
plant or animal has different structures that serve different functions
in growth, survival, reproduction. (K-4) |
A Look at the Life of
a Monarch Caterpillar
Larva Locomotion:
A Closer Look
Why Does the
Chrysalis Twist ? (Video clip)
Exploring Milkweed
Ecology
Feeding a Butterfly
in Dr. Fink's Kitchen
Life is
Sweet for Monarchs
How is a Human
Vacation Like Monarch Migration?
Story of a Life's Journey
Mystery Monarch
Adaptation
Flower-powered
Migratory Species: Compa re/Contrast
Caterpillar Identification
Quiz
Sightings Wanted: Can You
Tell a Viceroy from a Monarch?
New Butterfly or Old:
Watching the Wings for Clues
Inside the
Chrysalis
A Bird Hatches
and a Butterfly Ecloses: What’s the Difference?
How Did the Monarch
Escape from the Lizard? |
| The
behavior of individual organisms is influenced by internal cues (such
as hunger) and by external cues (such as a change in the environment).
Humans and other organisms have senses that help them detect internal
and external cues. (K-4) |
Flower-powered
Migratory Species: Compare/Contrast
Can YOU Find the
Monarch's Winter Home in Mexico?
More
Photos, Maps, Landscape Views
Monarchs are Cold-blooded
Creatures: The Basics
Time
to Revisit Views About Monarch Migration?
|
| LIFE
CYCLES OF ORGANISMS |
| Plants
and animals have life cycles that include being born, developing into
adults, reproducing, and eventually dying. The details of this life
cycle are different for different organisms. (K-4) |
Monarch Life Cycle
A Day in the Life of
a Butterfly Egg
Why Does the
Chrysalis Twist ? (Video clip)
Insect Reproduction
Strategy
A Butterfly is Born
Predators and Parasites
on the Prowl
Monarch Life Cycle:
What is a Generation?
How Long Do
Monarchs Live? Estimating the Lifespan
Expecting
Monarchs in Arkansas
Predicting the
1st Spring Generation
Story of a Life's Journey
Expecting
Monarchs in Arkansas: News from the Nursery
Spring Recolonization
of North America
How Many
Eggs Can a Single Monarch Lay?
Speaking of Eggs: A Conversation
with Dr. Brower
New Butterfly or Old:
Watching the Wings for Clues
What is an Instar? The
Five Stages of Caterpillar Growth
A Bird Hatches
and a Butterfly Ecloses: What’s the Difference? |
| ORGANISMS
AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS |
| All
animals depend on plants. Some animals eat plants for food. Others
eat animals that eat plants. (K-4) |
Which
Grows Faster: A Monarch or a Milkweed Plant?
Exploring Milkweed
Ecology
Recommended Reading:
Milkweed, Monarchs, and More
Life is
Sweet for Monarchs
Flower-powered
Migratory Species: Compare/Contrast |
| An
organism's behavior patterns are related to the nature of that organism's
environment, including the kinds and number of other organisms present,
the availability of food and resources, and the physical characteristics
of the environment. When environment changes, some plants and animals
survive and reproduce, and others die or move to new locations. (K-4) |
Recommended Reading:
Milkweed, Monarchs, and More
Flapping
Flight: A Look at Flight in Slow Motion
Flower-powered
Migratory Species: Compare/Contrast
Milkweeds
and Monarchs: Comparing Adaptation Strategies
Time
to Revisit Views About Monarch Migration? |
| STRUCTURE
AND FUNCTION IN LIVING SYSTEMS |
| Living
systems at all levels of organization demonstrate the complementary
nature of structure and function. (5-8) |
Why Does the
Chrysalis Twist ? (Video clip)
Exploring Milkweed
Ecology
Feeding a Butterfly
in Dr. Fink's Kitchen
Life is
Sweet for Monarchs
Mystery Monarch
Adaptation
Flower-powered
Migratory Species: Compare/Contrast
Can You Tell a Viceroy
from a Monarch?
Inside the
Chrysalis
How Did the Monarch
Escape from the Lizard? |
| REPRODUCTION
AND HEREDITY |
| Reproduction
is a characteristic of all living systems; because no individual organism
lives forever, reproduction is essential to the continuation of every
species. Some organisms reproduce asexually. Other organisms reproduce
sexually. (5-8) |
Monarch
Life Cycle: What is a Generation?
Male vs. Female Monarch
Behavior
Insect Reproduction
Strategy
Expecting
Monarchs in Arkansas: News from the Nursery
|
| Every
organism requires a set of instructions for specifying its traits.
Heredity is the passage of these instructions from one generation
to another. (5-8) |
Insect Reproduction
Strategy |
| REGULATION
AND BEHAVIOR |
| All
organisms must be able to obtain and use resources, grow, reproduce,
and maintain stable internal conditions in a constantly changing external
environment. (5-8) |
Entire Monarch Study
Life of a Monarch Caterpillar
Story of a Life's Journey
Milkweeds
and Monarchs: Comparing Adaptations/ Strategies
A Look at the Life of
a Monarch Caterpillar
Monarchs are Cold-blooded
Creatures: The Basics
Why
Come Back North in the Spring
|
| Regulation
of an organism's internal environment involves sensing the internal
environment and changing physiological activities to keep conditions
within range required to survive. (5-8) |
Monarchs are Cold-blooded
Creatures: The Basics
|
| Behavior
is one kind of response an organism can make to an internal or environmental
stimulus. A behavioral response requires coordination and communication
at many levels, including cells, organ systems, and whole organisms.
Behavioral response is determined in part by heredity and in part
from experience. (5-8) |
Life of a Monarch Caterpillar
Insect Reproduction
Strategy
A Look at the Life of
a Monarch Caterpillar
Monarchs are Cold-blooded
Creatures: The Basics |
| An
organism's behavior evolves through adaptation to its environment.
How a species moves, obtains food, reproduces, and responds to danger
are based in the species' evolutionary history. (5-8) |
Herbivores
and Plants: A Coevolutionary Arms Race
Exploring Milkweed
Ecology
Adaptations to a
World in Which Warm Air Rises
Songbirds Fly Under
Night Skies. Do Monarchs?
Milkweeds
and Monarchs: Comparing Adaptation Strategies
What is the Caterpillar
Doing . . . and Why?
How Did the Monarch
Escape from the Lizard?
|
| POPULATIONS
AND ECOSYSTEMS |
| Populations
of organisms can be categorized by the function they serve in an ecosystem.
Plants and some microorganisms are producers?they make their own food.
All animals, including humans, are consumers, which obtain food by
eating other organisms. Decomposers, primarily bacteria and fungi,
are consumers that use waste materials and dead organisms for food.
Food webs identify the relationships among producers, consumers, and
decomposers in an ecosystem. (5-8) |
Recommended
Reading: Milkweed, Monarchs, and More
|
| DIVERSITY
AND ADAPTATIONS |
| Biological
evolution accounts for the diversity of species through gradual processes
over many generations. Species acquire many of their unique characteristics
through biological adaptation, which involves the selection of naturally
occurring variations in populations. Biological adaptations include
changes in structures, behaviors, or physiology that enhance survival
and reproductive success in a particular environment. (5-8) |
Herbivores
and Plants: A Coevolutionary Arms Race
Recommended Reading:
Milkweed, Monarchs, and More
Life is
Sweet for Monarchs
Adaptations to a
World in Which Warm Air Rises
Mystery Monarch
Adaptation
Songbirds Fly
Under Night Skies. Do Monarchs?
What is the Caterpillar
Doing . . . and Why?
How Did the Monarch
Escape from the Lizard? |
| D.
EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE |
| CHANGES
IN THE EARTH AND SKY |
| Weather
changes from day to day and over the seasons. Weather can be described
by measurable quantities, such as temperature, wind direction and
speed, and precipitation. (K-4) |
?? |
| Objects
in the sky have patterns of movement. The sun, for example, appears
to move across the sky in the same way every day, but its path changes
slowly over the seasons. The moon moves across the sky on a daily
basis much like the sun. The observable shape of the moon changes
from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month. (K-4) |
?? |
| STRUCTURE
OF THE EARTH SYSTEM |
| Clouds,
formed by the condensation of water vapor, affect weather and climate.
(5-8) |
?? |
| Global
patterns of atmospheric movement influence local weather. Oceans have
a major effect on climate, because water in oceans holds a large amount
of heat. (5-8) |
?? |
| EARTH
IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM |
| The
sun is the major source of energy for phenomena on the earth's surface,
such as growth of plants, winds, ocean currents, and the water cycle.
Seasons result from variations in the amount of sun's energy hitting
the surface, due to the tilt of the earth's rotation on its axis and
the length of the day. (5-8) |
Reasons
for Seasons (entire unit) |
| SCIENCE
IN PERSONAL AND SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES |
| CHANGES
IN ENVIRONMENTS |
| Environments
are the spaces, conditions, and factors that affect an individual's
and a population's ability to survive and their quality of life. (K-4)
|
Can YOU Find the
Monarch's Winter Home in Mexico?
More
Photos, Maps, Landscape Views
|
| Changes
in environments can be natural or influenced by humans. Some changes
are good, some are bad, and some are neither. Pollution is a change
in the environment that can influence the health, survival, or activities
of organisms, including humans. (K-4) |
?
|
| HISTORY
AND NATURE OF SCIENCE
SCIENCE
AS A HUMAN ENDEAVOR |
| Although
men and women using scientific inquiry have learned much about the
objects, events, and phenomena in nature, much more remains to be
understood. Science will never be finished. (K-4) |
Which Monarchs Are
Migrating from Mexico? |
| Many
people choose science as a career and devote their entire lives to
studying it. Many people derive great pleasure from doing science.
(K-4) |
Why Does the
Chrysalis Twist ? (Video clip)
Time
to Revisit Views About Monarch Migration?
Inside the
Chrysalis |
| NATURE
OF SCIENCE |
| It
is part of scientific inquiry to evaluate the results of scientific
investigations, experiments, observations, theoretical models, and
the explanations proposed by other scientists. Evaluation includes
reviewing experimental procedures, examining the evidence, identifying
faulty reasoning, pointing out statements that go beyond the evidence,
and suggesting alternative explanations for the same observations.
Although scientists may disagree about explanations of phenomena,
about interpretations of data, or about the value of rival theories,
they do agree that questioning, response to criticism, and open communication
are integral to the process of science. As scientific knowledge evolves,
major disagreements are eventually resolved through such interactions
between scientists. (5-8) |
Citizen Science
and Journey North
Analyzing
Migration Maps: Watch Your Language |