If you live in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama or Florida, be on the lookout. Monarchs could arrive there any day! Last year's first U.S. sighting came from Austin, Texas on March 16th. By March 22nd over 30 sightings a day were reported along the east coast of Texas, near Port Lavaca and between Matagorda Island and Port College.
Be ready to report the following information to: jn_monarch@informns.k12.mn.us
1) The date 2) Your school name 3) The nearest city 4) Your state or province 5) Your latitude and longitude
Please invite students across North America to join us! There are many unanswered questions about monarch migration. With your help we may be able to shed light on mysteries such as these: How do temperature, wind and weather affect the monarchs' journey? What routes do they take? What risks do they face along the way? In a unique partnership, students and scientists will work together to gather, organize and analyze data about this fascinating event.
Last spring almost 1,000 sightings were reported. Let's see if we can do it again this year! Here are some ways you can help increase participation: Ask all the students in your school to be on the lookout. To build excitement, hold a school-wide contest and let students guess when the first monarch will appear in your home town. Write an article for your school or community newspaper. Organize an E-mail campaign. Post a message on a local bulletin board or on your favorite Newsgroup. Invite your E-mail friends across North America to participate!
A Challenge for Monarchs and a Challenge for You......
The month of March is critical time for monarchs. Timing is everything. If these fragile butterflies are to be part of spring in North America once again this year they must overcome countless challenges.
First, consider their lifespan. These butterflies have been alive since August. The aging process has been suspended long beyond the 4-6 week lifespan of other monarch generations. The cool temperatures in Mexico helped to extend their lives. Perhaps more significantly, scientist think aging is arrested because these monarchs are in a state called "reproductive diapause". When they shift back into a reproductively active state each spring, the clock begins to tick once again and they have just a few weeks left to live.
In a race against time, they must head north and lay the eggs of next monarch generation. If they arrive too early, the milkweed won't be ready and they'll die before they can lay their eggs. If they arrive too late, spring temperatures in the southern U.S. will be too warm for the eggs, chyrsalis and caterpillars to develop properly.
This careful timing is guided by instict alone. Remember, none of these butterflies has ever taken the spring trip before. Those that took this journey last spring were the great grandparents of these butterflies. When you see your first monarch butterfly this spring, congratulations are in order!
Here's a CHALLENGE QUESTION for you:
How do you think the monarchs "know" when it's time for them to leave Mexico?
Send your answer to: jnorth@informns.k12.mn.us
Answers to our last monarch CHALLENGE QUESTIONS:
In a previous message Dr. Calvert reported an estimated 60 million monarchs wintering in Mexico this year packed at a density of 13 million butterflies per hectare. You were asked these questions:
1) In how many states and provinces do 60,000,000 people live?
2) At that density, how many butterflies would be in a space the size of your classroom? How many butterflies would there be for each student?
From MINNESOTA:
Dear Journey North, We are Mr. Druskin's second grade class from Blake Highcroft in Wayzata, Minnesota. It took 15 states and provinces to make 60,000,000 people! This is our list: Minnesota (4,517,416), Wisconsin (5,037,928), Iowa (2,814,064), Ontario (10,084,885), Manitoba (1,091,942), South Dakota (715,392), North Dakota (634,935), Montana (839,422), Illinois (11,697,336), Nebraska (1,607,199), Michigan (9,477,545), Kansas (2,530,746), Missouri (5,233,849), Saskatchewan (988,928), Indiana (5,712,779). The total population of these states and provinces is 62,984,366. What a fun question! Mr. Druskin's class Joseph_Druskin@blake.pvt.k12.mn.us
From VIRGINIA:
In our classroom there would be 93,600 monarch butterflies. There would be approximately 10,000 butterflies per student. Ryan Arnaudin odcwsk@pen.k12.va.us
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