Bring Magnificient Fliers Into A Classroom

The start of a new academic year is a terrific time to create environmental learning centers in the classroom, and studying the life cycle and the awesome migration of the Monarch butterfly ... See More

The start of a new academic year is a terrific time to create environmental learning centers in the classroom, and studying the life cycle and the awesome migration of the Monarch butterfly are paths that lead students to appreciate the ecology of an organism who's perview is within their realm of understanding. This article offers lessons for integrating the ecology of the Monarch into the classroom and is designed so that teachers easily may expand the unit to encompass basic elements found in POE methods. This is an opportunity for students to make many connections. In addition to reading and adapting items from this article, the teeacher is encouraged to search the NSTA Learning Center for collections on butterflies and to review other resources such as Journey North. This article is recommended for teachers of all levels, even if it is published in a journal identifying itself as focused on elementary or middle school learners.