Journey North allows citizen scientists to participate in tracking migrations. Some of the organisms tracked are familiar to all and this makes participation in studying and participation in the study of migrations a great topic for K12 science classes.
The monarch butterfly should be familiar to students who live in many parts of the country. The species receives lots of attention because there have been concerns about population numbers related to the destruction of habitat suited to be a food source. This reality can lead discussion of many scientific issues. Since monarchs can be observed close up in gardens and ditches, finding them is a reasonable task. Often students also collect the caterpillars at certain times of the year a watch the caterpillar go through the metamorphosis process to become a butterfly.
I took this photo a few days ago walking near my home when I saw several monarchs on this particular flower. Monarchs begin to assemble in groups before migration. The Journey North has lots of information about this species.
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