Migration Update: February 16, 2007
Please Report
Winter Sightings! >>

Today's Report Includes:

  • Exploring the Monarch's Winter Home in Mexico >>
    • A Visit Inside the Sanctuary! >>
    • Temperature and Survival >>
    • How Cold Will the Monarchs Be Tonight? >>
  • Journal Question: What's good and bad about the cold? >>
  • Links: Monarch Butterfly Resources to Explore >>


It's Cold in Mexico!
Photo: Dr. Lincoln Brower

Exploring the Monarch's Winter Home in Mexico

Why do Monarchs fly to Mexico from across the continent?
Each week we're exploring a piece of the puzzle.

A Visit Inside the Monarch Sanctuary Temperature and Survival >>

It can be warm during the day at the monarch's winter home in Mexico, but at night it's as cold as the inside of your refrigerator! Most people are puzzled when they hear this. Why do monarchs migrate across the continent to spend the winter in a place that is cold? This week, take an imaginary trip inside a monarch colony on a cold day. You will see many ways cold temperatures affect monarchs and how the forest protects them. >>

Slideshow Visit >>

How Cold Will the Monarchs Be Tonight? Today's Weather >>

 

You can track real-time weather information from the monarch's wintering region in Mexico. When it's cold, you can imagine exactly what's happening there.

How cold will the butterflies be tonight? >>

Record Sheet

Journal Question: What's good and bad about the cold?

You have just taken an imaginary trip inside a monarch colony, and seen several ways cold temperatures affect monarchs. While your memory is fresh, take out your journal and describe what you have seen:

  • Explain how the cold temperatures in Mexico benefit monarchs.
  • In what ways can the cold temperatures harm them?
Links: Monarch Butterfly Resources to Explore
  • Journal: Monarch Winter Habitat Journal >>
  • Observation Activity: The Climate of MX: What Do Two Pictures Tell You? >>
  • Observation Activity: Why Are These Butterflies Behaving So Strangely? >>
  • Lesson: How Cold Are the Overwintering Sites in Mexico? >>
  • Lesson: The Forest as Blanket, Umbrella & Hot Water Bottle (Analogies) >>
  • Overview: About Journey North's Monarch Butterfly Overwintering Study >>
More Monarch Lessons and Teaching Ideas!

The Next Monarch Migration Update Will Be Posted on February 23, 2007.