Monarchs and IT

Teachers are among the keener registrants for the second conference of the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust, to be held in Tauranga on Saturday, 11th and Sunday, 12th April. That is because Monarch butterflies have always been a rich source for science lessons and for building up a sense of wonder.

They are making a comeback into education in a whole new way – one that reflects the need to develop IT skills.

Since its formation the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust has been working with schools to develop ideas and resources which incorporate teaching and learning about Monarchs in an integrated manner across all learning areas.

This, when combined with the Education for Sustainability focus offered by the practical project of tagging Monarchs and sharing the data at a national level, makes a motivational and educational winner.

Butterflies are uniquely placed to act as indicators of environmental change.

“By tagging and following Monarchs, we can use them as indicators of the status of our environment here in NZ,” said Dr Mark Hauber, who works in the field of Ecology, Evolution and Behaviour at the University of Auckland’s Biological Sciences.

“Tagging serves a dual purpose,” he says.

“Not simply by collecting critical data, but also by introducing people to the method and purpose of scientific investigation.”

The first step in the project, which appeals to classrooms with small budgets, is to have a humble ‘swan plant’ (Gomphocarpus fruticosus or G. physocarpus) in the school. The plant soon attracts a Monarch butterfly – for this beautiful insect can sense the plant from up to two kilometres away.

Children can watch her laying eggs on the undersides of the leaves. The eggs are creamy-white, laid individually, about the size of a pin-head, and with a magnifying glass the ribs on the egg case stand out clearly.

Within a few days the eggs have hatched. The relationship between the plant and the butterfly can now be appreciated. A caterpillar will eat an average of 12 leaves as it increases in size 3,000 times over the next 10-14 days. What a great lesson in mathematics, problem-solving and budgeting!

Other insects and small forms of life are attracted to the plant as well.
Not all plants survive –some of them provide food for others further up the food chain. There are lessons in life and death.

The caterpillar continues to grow – and so do the observation skills of the children and their fascination.

There are many resources available to extend the lesson into the world of science, environmental education, technology, social studies, art, drama, literacy and mathematics and statistics.

On the internet children can study the amazing Monarch migration – from Canada across the US to the huge overwintering clusters, millions of Monarchs, in Mexico – so they learn about the world and different cultures too.

The Monarch Butterfly Trust invites NZ schools to participate in the tagging of Monarch butterflies to learn more about their winter habits.

It is already known that Monarchs do not migrate overseas. They are seen midsummer in Southland and Otago, even as far as Stewart Island… but what happens to them in the winter?

“Monarchs are amazing creatures,” says Jacqui Knight, spokesperson for the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust which launched the tagging project.

“The last generation can sense the onset of winter, so the adult butterflies build up their fat reserves and although they are sexually mature, they do not breed until up to nine months later.

“The trust has encouraged ‘citizen scientists’ to become involved in the project over the past two years.

“The first two years we tagged about 10,000 butterflies each year, of which about three per cent were seen again later in their life,” she said.

“This year, starting 1st March, we aim to tag 20,000.”

Last year one butterfly was recorded as flying from the southern end of Lake Taupo, where it was tagged, to a garden in Whangarei, some 500 kilometres to the north.

She says that the butterflies find a sheltered and warm tree in which they cluster together with many more Monarchs, only reappearing to top up on nectar during favourable weather.

“Otherwise they stay huddled together in the treetops where they look like autumn leaves.When the spring comes, they usually return to their summer habitat, mate and begin the next generation.”

Several schools have already participated in the tagging project and have benefitted in many ways from using the Monarch butterfly as a learning tool in their classrooms.

“Monarchs are the total package,” says Kathryn Rowe, principal of Elsthorpe School.

“Learning about Monarchs can be applied to every aspect of the curriculum, from values to learning areas, and it is applicable to every age level. It sustains its appeal as it never has to be taught the same way twice and is naturally modified by the particular needs and interests of the students.

“We began with the butterfly life cycle and tagging, but we are moving to garden design and the building of classroom butterfly cages. One of the exciting by-products is the links the students form with other schools and other places who are also finding out about Monarchs. Students in the US, Canada, and Peru are only an e-mail away.”

For more information, check out www.monarch.org.nz, or come and learn more at the Monarch Butterfly Trust’s Conference, in Tauranga, 11th-12th April.

Note: The swan plant is so named because of its swan-like seed pods. It is part of the Asclepiadoideae or milkweed family of plants. Milkweed has a natural defence: it is poisonous to some other creatures. While it is unlikely that any child would want to eat milkweed, it is also important that any splashes of the sap are immediately washed off the skin; children should be encouraged to only ‘touch with their eyes’.

Landcare Research does not include milkweed on their list of Poisonous Plants because of its educational value in teaching young children about lifecycles, and as an introduction to scientific experimentation in older children. There is more information on the website of the Monarch Butterfly NZ Trust, www.monarch.org.nz