Temperature and Migration in our Hometown
Slideshow Overview
Introduction
Monarch
butterflies are in a race against time during fall migration. They must
leave the north before they're trapped by the cold. If a monarch's thoracic
(body) temperature is below 55° F (13° C), it cannot fly. Use these activity ideas to explore how your hometown temperatures affect monarchs during fall migration.
| Take a look at this map to observe how quickly temperatures change week-by-week in the fall. With
each passing day, monarchs have a smaller and smaller window of
time in which they can fly. |
|
1. Predict: How many hours could monarchs fly in your hometown today? Remember, migrating monarchs do not travel at night and they cannot fly if they are too cold.
2. Measure
daylight hours: Calculate today's day length using sunrise/sunset data. What time in the morning could the monarchs
lift off? Remember: Monarchs
can raise their temperatures above air temperature
by basking in the sun and/or shivering. What were the sky conditions: sunny or cloudy? Do you think the butterflies were able to bask in the sun to warm up their flight muscles? What time in the evening must the butterflies come down to rest? How
many hours do you predict monarchs could fly between sunrise and sunset?
3. Measure outside temperatures periodically during the school day.
How many hours could a monarch fly today? How will the sunny or cloudy conditions affect temperatures and monarchs?
As a general rule, monarchs need air temperatures of at least 50°F
on a sunny day (or 60°F on a cloudy day).
4. Analyze! Between sunrise and sunset, how many hours could monarchs have flown?
How many hours was it too cold to fly? How did these
results compare to your predictions?
5. Continue
gathering data as the season continues. Each day, check the previous day's temperatures.
Go to weather.com.
Put in your zip code. Choose "yesterday" from the menu and
then choose "hourly reports." (You'll find times and temperatures
in the lefthand columns.) Make a graph that shows how many hours in
each 24-hour day the temperature is above (or below) 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
6. Predict where in the country monarchs will be able to fly today or this week using this interactive map.
