Milkweed for Monarchs Citizen
Science program for K-2: Watch
your butterflies grow!
Learn more: The Monarch Watch website tells you more about the
Monarch’s lifecycle and includes pictures:
http://www.monarchwatch.org/biology/cycle1.htm
Being a Citizen Scientist
Thank you for planting milkweed! Your students can be scientists that
observe and collect data about the lifecycle of Monarch butterflies in your
garden. Please participate in our Citizen Science program and help us
monitor the effectiveness of this program in creating butterfly habitat.
Using the attached journal, your students can observe and record data
about the occurrence of monarch butterflies and their larva on your
milkweed plants.
Please return the data, along with any pictures, to the Resource
Conservation District of Greater San Diego County by December 4, 2015.
The Monarch lifecycle and migration
Starting in spring, Monarch butterflies lay their eggs on milkweed plants.
Milkweed is very important because it is the ONLY food source for the
Monarch larva, or caterpillar and they eat it non-stop as they grow.
The caterpillar passes through 5 instar phases and then it pupates (makes a
chrysalis) and emerges as a butterfly. Typically three to four generations of
butterflies go through this process throughout the spring, summer, and
early fall.
The last generation of butterfly stocks up on nectar and travels to an
overwintering site in groves of trees along the California coast anywhere
between Mendocino and San Diego, often to the same trees as their great,
great grandparents spent the previous winter. These butterflies settle in
trees for the winter and then fly away in spring to lay eggs and start the
cycle again.
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Your job as a citizen scientist is to observe the presence
of Monarch butterflies in your garden. Watch for the
butterflies and examine the milkweed plants to see if
you can find eggs on the backs of leaves – look closely,
they are very small.
Once you see eggs, write down how many they are and keep watching for
the tiny caterpillars to emerge. They will be very small in its first instar but
will grow quickly over the next two weeks.
Write down your observations about the caterpillars and how many you
identify. Once they get nice and big, see if you can find the places where
they pupate, or make their chrysalis. If you are very lucky, you will get to
experience the butterfly emerging from the chrysalis.
Monarch monitoring programs
There are many organizations dedicated to tracking the movement and
population of monarch butterflies. These databases can provide important
information about the population numbers in different years and whether
revival efforts have made a difference. The information you collect will be
contributed to a larger, national Monarch monitoring program.
Monarch Joint Venture gives some examples of Monarch butterfly related
citizen science programs: http://monarchjointventure.org/getinvolved/study-monarchs-citizen-science-opportunities/
Curricular links
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Citizen science activities link to the Next Generation Science Standards in
many ways. The standards below apply to K-5, but this can also be adapted
for middle and high school.
Observing the life cycle of Monarch butterflies and the activities of
Monarchs and other pollinators in your garden with your students can
address Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCIs) under the NGSS. Practices related to
this work include Planning and Carrying out Investigations, Developing and
Using Models, and Scientific Knowledge is Based on Empirical Evidence.
DCI’s that can be addressed through this citizen science program include,
but are not limited to, the following:
-
We are particularly interested to know the first and last dates of the year
you see monarchs in your garden so that we can better understand their
movements in San Diego County. Please contact Ann Baldridge at the RCD
with any questions at 619-562-0096 or ann.baldridge@rcdsandiego.org.
Thanks for all your feedback and good luck with your citizen
science journey!
K-LSI.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms
K-ESS3.A: Natural Resources
1.LS1.A: Structure and Function
1.LS1.B: Growth and Development of
Organisms
2.LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in
Ecosystems
3.LS1.B: Growth and Development of
Organisms
3.LS2.D: Social Interactions and Group Behavior
4.LS1.A: Structure and Function
4.ESS2.E: Biogeology
5.LS1.C: Organization For Matter and Energy Flow In Organisms
5.LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships In Ecosystems
5.ESS3.C: Human Impacts On Earth Systems
Submitting your data
Attached is a citizen science journal your students can use to collect data
from their observations. Please submit your school’s data by December 2,
2016 to Ann Baldridge, RCD of Greater San Diego, by email to
ann.baldridge@rcdsandiego, by fax to 619-562-4799, or by mail to 11769
Waterhill Road, Lakeside CA 92040.
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
A Citizen Scientist Nature Journal:
The Life Cycle of a Monarch Butterfly
Monarch Butterflies and Milkweed
There are four stages in a Monarch
Butterfly’s life.
1) The Egg Stage
2) The Larvae, or Caterpillar Stage
Name: _________________________
School: ________________________
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
3) The Pupae, or Chrysalis Stage
Milkweed
Monarch butterfly caterpillars only eat
milkweed. Here are some
pictures of milkweed:
4) The Butterfly Stage
Find Milkweed at your school and draw
a picture in the box below:
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Your job as a Citizen Scientist
Your first job is to look for Monarch
butterflies in your school garden and look
at the milkweed plants to see if you can
find eggs on the back of leaves- they are
small!
COUNT THE EGGS!
DATE:
HOW MANY EGGS DO YOU SEE?
(You can use tally marks)
FIND THE EGGS!
DRAW WHAT YOU SEE:
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Your second job as a citizen scientist is to
watch for the second stage of a Monarch
butterfly’s life- caterpillars.
COUNT THE CATERPILLARS!
DATE:
FIND THE CATEPILLARS!
HOW MANY CATERPILLARS DO YOU
SEE? (You can use tally marks)
DRAW WHAT YOU SEE:
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Your third job as a citizen scientist is to
look for the third stage of a Monarch
butterfly’s life- chrysalis.
FIND THE CHRYSALIS!
COUNT THE CHRYSALIS!
DATE:
HOW MANY CHRYSALISES DO YOU
SEE? (You can use tally marks)
DRAW WHAT YOU SEE:
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Your final job as a citizen scientist is to
look for the fourth stage of a Monarch
butterfly’s life- butterfly!
FIRST AND LAST DATES I SAW A
MONARCH BUTTERFLY IN THE SCHOOL
GARDEN:
FIND THE BUTTERFLIES!
The first day of 2016 I saw a Monarch
butterfly was:
___________________________
DRAW WHAT YOU SEE:
The last date of 2016 I saw a Monarch
butterfly was:
_____________________________
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
More ways to monitor Monarch
butterflies in your garden:
Join the
Milkweed for
Monarchs
iNaturalist
page!
iNaturalist is an
online forum
where you can
record what you
see in nature.
On this great site, you can browse pictures taken by other nature
lovers and learn about flora and fauna around the world. You can also
contribute by adding your observations!
We have created a project page for Milkweed for Monarchs on
iNaturalist. Join this page to upload pictures of the Monarch
caterpillars and butterflies you see in your garden. Your photos will
help us understand the impact of this project. The date information
submitted with your photos will help us get a picture of when
Monarchs are visiting gardens across the county, for example, are
they here during the winter months when they would normally be
migrating?
To join the Milkweed for Monarchs page on iNaturalist and record
your observations, visit: http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/sandiego-milkweed-for-monarchs.
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014
Jonie Kipling Ed.D Baldwin Academy 2014