Butterfly+Migration

=Butterfly Migration =

by PJ Marsh

This wiki page is devoted to butterfly migration. The butterfly migration discussed on this page relates to the monarch butterfly. This wiki page was developed primarily for elementary school students and their teachers. Hopefully, the information presented will be of interest to all ages, young and old.

  **Important Vocabulary:** //**[|Migrate]**// : To move from one place to another. //**[|Migration]**// : The seasonal movement of a complete population of animals from one area to another. **Migration** is the movement of animals to a place that offers better living conditions. Many kinds of animals regularly migrate to avoid unfavorable changes in weather or food supply, or to take advantage of better living conditions elsewhere. //**[|Seasonal]**// : Relating to a particular season.    
 * // [|Annual] //**__:__ Happens or occurs once a year.
 * //[|Population]// **: A group of one or more species of organisms living in a particular area or habitat <span style="font-size: 110%; color: rgb(0,128,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; background-color: rgb(255,255,255);">.

=//**<span style="display: block; font-size: 140%; color: rgb(255,0,123); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Thinking Questions: **//= =<span style="display: block; font-size: 140%; color: rgb(255,0,123); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Have you ever migrated to a new home, or to a new room, or to a new school, or to a new class? Why did you migrate? =

=<span style="display: block; font-size: 120%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Why do you think butterflies migrate? = <span style="display: block; font-size: 119.68%; color: rgb(64,64,64); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">//(Go to bottom of this page to see why scientists think monarch butterflies migrate.)// <span style="display: block; font-size: 149.6%; color: rgb(64,64,64); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">

<span style="display: block; font-size: 170%; color: rgb(255,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> is a Unique and Amazing Phenomenon! //__**
 * __// The Migration of the Monarch Butterfly

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"> <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: rgb(16,81,16); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//<span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);">__The Annual Migration South to Mexico__ // The annual migration of North America’s monarch butterfly is a unique and amazing phenomenon. The monarch is the only butterfly known to make a two-way migration as birds do. Every fall, tens of millions of monarch butterflies travel up to 3,000 miles in their migration—monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains make their way to central Mexico and those west of the Rockies fly to the California coast. These bright orange-and-black butterflies migrate farther than any other butterfly. Monarchs use a combination of air currents and thermals to travel long distances. Monarchs can travel between 50-100 miles a day; it can take up to two months to complete their journey. The farthest ranging monarch butterfly recorded traveled 265 miles in one day. The eastern population of North America’s monarchs overwinters in the same 11 to 12 mountain areas in the States of Mexico and Michoacan from October to late March. Monarchs living west of the Rocky Mountain range in North America overwinter in California along the Pacific coast near Santa Cruz and San Diego. <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: rgb(255,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">__//<span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);">How Do They Do It? //__ <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: rgb(16,81,16); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Researchers are still investigating what directional aids monarchs use to find their overwintering location. It appears to be a combination of directional aids such as the magnetic pull of the earth and the position of the sun among others, not one in particular. <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: rgb(255,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//__Spring Return to North America__// <span style="font-size: 16pt; color: rgb(16,81,16); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> In spring, as warm temperatures and lengthening days arrive, the migratory generation of monarchs finishes the development they halted prior to their migration. They become reproductive, breed and lay the eggs of the new generation. This starts the northern journey back to North America. Unlike the generation before them, who made a one-generation journey south, successive generations make the journey north for the summer. Thus, the annual cycle of the butterfly continues.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: left;">The above information is from the websites of the [|U.S. Forest Service] and the [|Smithsonian’s National Zoo].[] []

=<span style="display: block; font-size: 140%; color: rgb(0,0,255); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Monarch Butterfly Migration Videos =

media type="custom" key="3627447"

media type="youtube" key="lWjNZvW0AkE" height="344" width="425" media type="youtube" key="oPKISz2ktuo" height="344" width="425"

<span style="display: block; font-size: 156%; color: rgb(128,128,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 187.2%; color: rgb(128,128,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">The photo below is a link to another great video about monarch butterfly migration. Click and be taken to the video. <span style="display: block; font-size: 156%; color: rgb(128,128,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">



=<span style="display: block; font-size: 110%; color: rgb(128,128,128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> =

=<span style="display: block; font-size: 160%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Butterfly Migration Map =

<span style="display: block; font-size: 156%; color: rgb(64,64,64); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Take your finger and trace how the <span style="display: block; font-size: 156%; color: rgb(0,128,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">monarch butterflies <span style="display: block; font-size: 156%; color: rgb(255,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> [|migrate] <span style="display: block; font-size: 156%; color: rgb(64,64,64); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> south to <span style="display: block; font-size: 156%; color: rgb(255,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Mexico <span style="display: block; font-size: 156%; color: rgb(64,64,64); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> in the fall. Start in Mexico and travel north to trace the spring [|migration]. <span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(64,64,64); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

= =

UNITED STATES UNITED STATES UNITED STATES UNITED STATES UNITED STATES UNITED STATES UNITED STATES UNITED STATES MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEXICO MEX <span style="display: block; color: rgb(0,128,0); text-align: center;">ICO ==<span style="display: block; font-size: 150%; color: rgb(0,0,255); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">A Musical Monarch Butterfly Migration Video == <span style="display: block; font-size: 50%; color: rgb(255,94,0); text-align: center;">// sings // // “ //// Goin' // <span style="display: block; font-size: 48pt; color: rgb(255,94,0); font-family: Waker; text-align: center;"> // Down // <span style="display: block; font-size: 48pt; color: rgb(255,94,0); font-family: Waker; text-align: center;"> // to //// Mexico //// " // <span style="display: block; font-size: 28pt; color: rgb(255,0,0); text-align: center;"> <span style="display: block; font-size: 28pt; color: rgb(0,128,0); text-align: center;"> // You may wish to get up, sing, and dance! // // Pretend you are going down to Mexico! //  = =  <span style="display: block; font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(255,0,0); text-align: center;">media type="custom" key="3626315"

<span style="font-size: 210%; color: rgb(128,0,128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">

<span style="display: block; font-size: 252%; color: rgb(128,0,128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">The Monarch Butterfly's Winter Home in Mexico <span style="display: block; font-size: 210%; color: rgb(128,0,128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">

Click on the Earth below and the follow the external link to explore the monarch butterfly's winter home in Mexico. <span style="font-size: 210%; color: rgb(128,0,128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">



=<span style="display: block; font-size: 140%; color: rgb(255,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Annual Cycle of the Monarch Butterfly =

<span style="display: block; font-size: 140%; color: rgb(255,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;">Please wait for image below to cycle.


The Long Journey - the Migration of the Monarch Butterfly Go to Discovery's Animal Planet Online and learn more about the migration of the Monarch Butterfly. Explore __The Long Journey__. Follow the numbers to uncover the migratory path of the monarch butterfly and listen to Dr. Lincoln Brower explain this amazing journey. <span style="font-size: 22pt; color: rgb(0,51,0); font-family: Teen;">Click on the Animal Planet Logos below to be taken to Animal Planet's external site.

<span style="display: block; font-size: 240%; color: rgb(128,0,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; text-align: center;"> Click on the butterfly picture below to see a slideshow and read about the Monarch Butterfly's Spring Migration. ** <span style="font-size: 306%; color: rgb(255,94,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> <span style="font-size: 180%; color: rgb(255,94,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * The Monarch's Spring Migration
 * <span style="font-size: 180%; color: rgb(255,94,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">__//Some Suggested Activities about Monarch Butterfly Migration://__ **

<span style="font-size: 130%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Print and color map showing migration routes of monarch butterflies. http://www.monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/fall.jpg http://www.monarchwatch.org/grafx/tagmig/spring.jpg

Play North/South game as described in PROFAUNA's Monarch Butterfly Manual posted at the U.S. Forest Service's website. Students act out the migration pattern of the monarch butterfly using a game and their sense of direction. http://www.fs.fed.us/monarchbutterfly/documents/royal_mail/North_South.pdf

Create a symbolic monarch butterfly migration dance to Lucas Miller's Goin' Down to Mexico song. http://www.lucasmiller.net/

Grow milkweed and attract monarch butterflies. http://www.monarchwatch.org/milkweed/index.htm

Report monarch butterfly sightings at Journey North's website: http://www.learner.org/cgi-bin/jnorth/jn-sightings

Have students create their own Wiki or mashups about monarch butterflies with video clips and podcasts.

Use Google Reader and get up-to-date RSS feeds about monarch butterfly migration news.

<span style="font-size: 180%; color: rgb(255,94,0); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">
 * __//Some Fabulous Educational Websites about Monarch Butterfly Migration://__**

http://www.learner.org/jnorth/monarch/

http://www.monarchwatch.org/

http://www.fs.fed.us/monarchbutterfly/

<span style="font-size: 120%; color: rgb(0,0,128); font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">//**<span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);">

Question from Top of Page: <span style="color: rgb(0,128,0);">Why do you think butterflies migrate? <span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"> Sample Answer: Scientists believe, for example, that monarch butterflies migrate to warmer climates to escape from the upcoming cold weather and the food shortage that will result from the temperature fall.**//