Science/Enrichment, Ashford School, Ashford, CT

Monarch Butterflies


First graders set several butterflies free in October with their wishes for a healthy trip to Mexico. This was a culmination to a unit on life cycles. Students spent many weeks observing young caterpillars eat and grow, shed their skin, change into chrysalises and eventually hatch as beautiful monarchs. Students kept journals of their observations. The monarch butterfly is unique because it migrates to Mexico, where it spends the winter with thousands of other monarchs. Students pointed the way south for the newly hatched friends. (not all heeded our advice!)