Monarch Monitoring Project

Raising and Observing Monarch Butterflies

Grades K-8

In this activity, students will raise Monarch butterflies and have opportunities to observe Monarchs as they progress through their various growth stages.

Skills: Making observations, collecting and recording data, care of plants and animals

Overview: Migration is an adaptation that helps many animals survive. Most people know that mammals and birds migrate, but it is important to know that even insects make migrations south to warm weather during the cold winter months in the north. These migratory flights for the Monarch butterfly require enormous amounts of energy and butterflies often stop along the way to rest and find food. By planting and maintaining butterfly gardens rich in the plants they like to eat, we can observe them while also providing them with important energy for them to continue their huge trips!

Materials:

  1. Monarch caterpillars or eggs
  2. A fresh renewable source of milkweed
  3. Clear plastic or other type of container in which to raise and observe your growing Monarch butterfly
  4. Fine wire mesh to cover the opening of the container so that the growing butterflies can breathe

Directions:

  1. Obtain Monarch eggs or caterpillars by ordering a kit online (see a local distributor or one of many sites online to find these)
  2. Collect fresh milkweed leaves. Creek Gardens at Cherry Creek High School should have enough fresh leaves each fall to provide the leaves that you will need every two days for the remainder of the growing stage of this project.
  3. Have the students carefully clean the plastic containers with water (no soap) and dry them carefully.
  4. If the container for each butterfly does not have a mesh cover already, cut a sheet of wire mesh slightly larger than the opening to be covered. Place some fresh milkweed (a couple leaves to begin with should do) in the container and then the butterfly egg/larva that was purchased.
  5. Once the caterpillars are in the rearing cage, the containers will need to be cleaned out every two days. Have students remove the caterpillars carefully (usually, the caterpillars will be eating a leaf that can be removed with the caterpillar on it to make things easier).
  6. During the growth stage, have students record the changes they see in the caterpillar (length, weight, color, etc.) at every cage cleaning. Students can create graphs of their caterpillar’s development.
  7. Then dispose of the old leaves and excrement pellets, wipe the container with water only and dry it carefully. Put fresh milkweed leaves in the container and replace the Monarch caterpillars.
  8. It will take about 10 days for the caterpillars to enter the chrysalis so this process will be repeated at least five times. During this period the caterpillars will grow to over 2,000 times their hatching size!
  9. When the caterpillar is ready to pupate (form the chrysalis), it will form a silk attachment to the wire mesh and hang upside down in a J shape. The transformation will happen over a period of minutes (a video of this process can be found on the Datasets and Resources page of the Monarch Project website.
  10. The chrysalis period will last approximately 14 days. During this time, the case will change in color and clarity. Have the students draw and record the data.
  11. The adult butterfly will emerge about 14 days later. As the adult comes close to being ready to emerge, the chrysalis will become increasingly clear and the butterfly’s wings will be visible through the case. Adults usually emerge mid-morning. Some Monarch die in the pupa stage. If the chrysalis has been very dark for over 48 hours, it has probably died.
  12. Once the adult has emerged, it will remain still for some time as while the wings inflate and dry. It is very important not to touch the butterfly during this stage. Finally, once the adult butterfly has inflated its wings and dried, it can be carefully handled. If you do decide to have students attempt to handle the butterflies, always hold all four wings gently at the same time to avoid damage from struggling.
  13. The adult must be released the same day it emerges from the chrysalis, so be sure to either release the butterfly outside (Creek Gardens, with its ample native food sources, would be a perfect location to release the butterflies), or begin the second lesson, “Tagging Monarchs.”