Students at Blake School in Minneapolis are busily translating last week's message, written in Spanish, which summarizes the monarchs' wintering season in Mexico. We'll post it soon. In the meantime, keep practicing your Spanish! At the end of this report you'll find a discussion of last week's CHALLENGE QUESTION, "Why is the condition of the monarch's wings important to include in your report?"
Real Science in Second Grade Last week, we received a note from second graders who are thinking long and hard about the monarch sightings they've received so far. They sent a terrific list of questions about the data, as you'll see below. This is exactly what we hope students will do: Look at real data (which doesn't always show clear patterns), ask good questions, and try to figure out what (if any) conclusions can be drawn. Most of us like to have THE ANSWER, but it often takes a long time to find it! Here's the note from teacher Jim Hatlei:
"As my second grade class has been charting the monarch sightings we have noticed a few things that we do not quite understand. We were wondering if you could help us. There are some states that seem to be gaps, that have not reported seeing monarchs, while states to either side have. The states in question are New Mexico, Alabama and South Carolina. We have discussed possible reasons. We think that New Mexico is right where the mountain ranges divide the western and eastern monarch colonies as discussed in the challenge questions. The students feel that the early monarch sighting from New Jersey must have been a mistake.
"The following is a list of theories generated as to why Alabama and South Carolina have not reported sightings:
* too rainy * too windy * too cold * too hot * too foggy * no milkweed plants growing there * too many people * eastern mountain range might block their travel * no one is participating in Journey North from those states
Jim Hatleli, Eagle Lake Elementary School Eagle Lake, Minnesota jhatle1@eagle.isd77.k12.mn.us ********************************************************
As you add the monarch sightings that were reported this week, make a list of all the questions that pop into your mind. Where could you find the answers? How might you design a research project to answer these questions?
Date Location April 9 Bradenton, Florida April 9 Cape May, New Jersey April 10 Winston-Salem, North Carolina April 12 Bernie, Missouri April 14 Raleigh, North Carolina April 15 Johnson City, Tennessee April 15 Wichita, Kansas April 15 Columbia, South Carolina April 15 Olathe, Kansas April 16 Cape May, New Jersey April 16 Erwin, Tennessee April 16 Valley Center, Kansas April 16 Raleigh, North Carolina April 19 Kent Island, Centerville, Maryland April 19 Raleigh, North Carolina April 19 Houston, Texas April 20 Johnson City, Tennessee April 20 Cape May, New Jersey April 22 Omaha, Nebraska April 22 Lincoln, Nebraska
Monarch Migration Update From Texas
Bill Calvert reports that adult monarchs seemed to be clearing out of central Texas last week, and they are now scarce throughout the state. A few were spotted the weekend of April 15th and 16th on the Oklahoma border in Grayson County (near Sherman, Texas). Monarchs that are in Texas are in the larval state, and will soon be the adults of the first spring generation. Many people in Texas report that their garden milkweed is overwhelmed with monarch larvae and have noted predation on the larvae by fire ants!
April 9th From the Cape May Birding Hotline, New Jersey: First monarch was seen on April 9th. Another sighted on the 16th and two on the 20th. Laurie Larson llarson@pucc.princeton.edu
April 9 April 9 2 Males at 5:44 p.m. Temp. 83 F. Wings in good condition. April 15 2 males at 5:00 p.m. Temp 83 F. Wings in good condition. April 16 2 females at 6:21 p.m. Temp. 85 F. Wings in good condition. April 17 1 female at 1:50 p.m. Temp 82 F. Torn wing Lizbeth Cardona (J.Dugan/Teacher) 27. 29N, 82.34 Bayshore Elementary, Bradenton, Florida DUGANJ@mail.firn.edu
April 10 Hello! We have spotted the first monarch for the spring! It was spotted on April 10th in our butterfly garden. It was in great shape so we are guessing that it is at least the second generation since departure from Mexico. We had an incredibly wet February but have no measurable rainfall since mid-March. Currently we are seeing lots of Black Swallowtails and Tiger Swallowtails and we have seen one Fritillary. We are at Summit School in Winston-Salem, NC. Everyone in grades K-9 is involved with the butterfly garden. Winston-Salem, North Carolina is about 37 latitude and 82 longitude. We can be reached at EBAIRD@AOL.com
April 12 Hi, We saw monarch butterflies for the first time this spring on April 12, 1995 36.40 N, 89.58 W Florene Lee, First Grade Teacher Bernie Elementary, Bernie, Missouri LeeF@bernie.k12.mo.us
April 14 There seemed to be a flurry of monarch sightings Easter weekend here in Raleigh. Colleagues recorded monarchs on 4/14, 4/15, 4/16 and 4/19 in and around Raleigh. Wouldn't you know it, I have still only seen one up in Virginia! I would be interested in getting reports from other monarch spotters in this region of the country as to what the monarchs were feeding on as they passed through. Only one of the ones spotted by our group was observed nectaring and that was on chives planted in our small butterfly garden at the Museum. There just wasn't much in flower when the first wave passed through, so I would be interested in knowing what others observed. If there is a trend, I certainly would recommend that the schools I work with plant some of that plant for the early arrivals. Also, I would think an informal network of ruby-throated hummingbird observers would be interesting for next year (close in timing here with the arrival of monarchs). There are actually several bird species that are quite noticeable when the monarchs first arrive - purple martins, barn swallows, chimney swifts, just to name a few. Mike Dunn, North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, Raleigh, NC MikeDunn@aol.com
April 15 Happy Spring, It was 91 today in Columbia, South Carolina. I finally saw my first Monarch this past weekend! Cherlyn G. Anderson Cherlyn_G._Anderson@scetv.pbs.org
April 15 April 15 - One worn individual in my yard in Johnson City, Tennessee. April 16 - One worn individual in NFS Rock Creek Recreation Area on the outskirts of Erwin, TN. April 20 - Two worn individuals during a walk in my neighborhood in Johnson City. Regards, Jerry Nagel East Tennessee State University Johnson City, TN NAGELJ@etsuarts.east-tenn-st.edu
April 15 Brad Williamson, biology teacher and MonarchWatch leader, spotted 5 monarchs four miles west of Olathe, Kansas. He netted two of them. Both were female and wings were nearly transparent from wear. Forwarded from Julie Ellis, also of Monarch Watch in Kansas. Roy and Pat Beckemeyer of Wichita, Kansas reported their first monarch sighting on April 15th bwilliam@tyrell.ne
April 16
Saw two monarchs in our yard in Valley Center, Kansas last weekend. Betty Terbush vcenter@southwind.net
April 19 Students at Gunston School sighted our first Monarch on Kent Island on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland on April 19. We will continue keeping an eye out as the spring continues. Journey North and all the information from all over the country has been of great interest here on this small rural campus.-Tony Everdell, Gunston School gunston@charm.net
April 19 My students saw 10 monarchs in their West University neighborhood in Houston, Texas on April 19, 1995 and we have three pupas in our room that we are observing. Andrea Behrend Second Grade Teacher Also, in the Wildlife Sanctuary at West University Elementary in Houston, Texas, on April 12, 1995, students observed seven Monarch butterfly larva feeding on milkweed. One pupa's chrysalis was also discovered on April 18, 1995. Sondra Fox, Science Teacher dschroed@tenet.edu
April 22 Three of our second graders are reporting monarch butterflies in Omaha, Nebraska, and Lincoln, Nebraska. Mairead saw one at her friend's house in the backyard on a tree. Patrick saw one at Lincoln, Nebraska at the Big Red Football stadium overpass. Kayla saw TWO at her sister's soccer game on the field. All these sightings were on Saturday April 22. My students have enjoyed following this! Jeanne Mehsling, Technology Specialist jmehslin@esu3.esu3.k12.ne.us
April 22 We are so excited that the monarchs were spotted! Mr. Dixon Gourley, husband of our fourth grade science teacher, Mrs. Charlotte Gourley, sighted one on April 22nd. Westside Intermediate School, Hebron, Maryland Latitude 38' 22'N, Longitude 75' 40'W Carolyn S. Johnston cjhnstn@shore1.intercom.net
Hi! We are Mrs. Herrick's 2nd grade class in Spooner, Wisconsin, and we are marking Monarch sightings on our United States map. It was fun to read about Mrs. Reid's class in Missouri seeing Monarchs, because it proves the journey north is moving toward us. It was also interesting to know it was 75 degrees when the Missouri students had their sighting. Today we received 3 inches of snow in northwest Wisconsin. It's nice to know it's Spring somewhere! herrid@dnr.state.wi.us
ANSWERS TO CHALLENGE QUESTIONS:
Why is the condition of the monarch's wings so important ?
Chris, a 4th grade ESL student at Lakeview Elementary in Robbinsdale, MN, believes that wing condition is important for camoflauge reasons. He also believes a butterfly will not be able to fly if it has a torn wing. Ms. Stone's ESL class ston0032@gold.tc.umn.edu
If they didn't have wings they couldn't fly. Their wings are very special. (From John Mutchler) The condition of the butterfliy's wings is important because they need to fly. (From Chappy Myers) If they didn't have any wings, they'd still be a caterpillar. They couldn't migrate without wings. (From Winston Berkman) Abington Friend School First Grade Jenkintown, Pennsylvania bweaver@mciunix.mciu.k12.pa.us (barbara weaver)
Hmmmm...These are very good answers but it's obvious that we didn't word this question well. When you sight a monarch, here's why we've asked that you pay close attention to the condition of the butterfly's wings.
The condition of the wings is a clue to the monarch's age and this is important because we want to know:
1) If the butterflies that are now being sighted were alive all winter (in Mexico or perhaps parts of the southern U.S.) or
2) If these are new butterflies, of the next generation (The "children" of the butterflies that survived the winter.)
As time passes, the monarch's wings fade because the colorful scales wear off. If you've ever touched a butterfly you know how easily this "powder" comes off on your fingers. Any monarch that survived the winter would be VERY OLD right now--as many as 8 months old! You'd expect its wings to be very faded, and maybe even transparent. In contrast, a butterfly with colorful, fresh wings is probably quite young and has emerged very recently.
As we track the migration this spring, we hope to discover how far north the overwintering generation travels. We also may be able to tell when the second generation emerges and how quickly it travels north.
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