This year, second grade has again joined the Internet science project, Journey North. We will be participating in two major projects, tracking the monarch migration for information on fall and planting a tulip garden to track the arrival of spring. We are joining over 55,000 other students on this adventure!

Our first project is sending symbolic butterflies to Mexico in support of the monarch migration that takes place every fall. Our butterflies will be ambassadors to Mexico so we will send a message in Spanish along with them. Next spring we will receive paper butterflies from Mexican or Canadian students as they make their return to Eastern North America.

The butterflies' fall flight is timed to correspond with the real monarchs' journey south. The paper butterflies arrive in Mexico around the time of the Dia de los Muertos (November 2), just as the real monarchs do. According to Mexican legend, these returning butterflies are thought to carry the ancestors' souls and play a role in the Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead, similar to All Souls Day) celebrations. Our mailing deadline is October 13.

Mexican students from the sanctuary region greet the butterflies and watch over them during the winter months. At the same time in the mountains nearby, the entire eastern population of North American monarch butterflies is resting in Mexico for the winter. Sometime next March, when the real monarchs' departure from Mexico is announced, the paper butterflies will return. The butterflies will carry a special message from the Mexican students to the students in Canada and U. S. who made them. We won’t receive the butterflies we sent but different ones. Most schools in Mexico do not have computers so the notes will be handwritten and in Spanish. We can’t wait for their return!

Check back later to find out about our tulip study and email us if you see any monarchs for us to report!

Saturday, September 15, 2007
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