Ready for Monarch Butterfly Migration
The process of making a map will orient students to the geography
of monarch butterfly migration. It will also give them a context for following
news in the season's migration updates.
each student or student group a copy of the handouts listed above.
(Note: You can edit the student
instructions in Microsoft Word to adapt them for your grade level.)
the class where they can access the atlas and any optional resource
maps you select.
you used the grade 4+ instruction sheet, point out the differences
between the eastern and western monarch populations (see
Give students time to add to their Blank
Maps the features listed on the Student Instructions sheet.
students to save the maps they develop. As they learn more about monarch
butterfly migration during the season, they can add new details and
features to their maps. As you review student maps, you can assess
their understanding of migration patterns and their abilities to represent
sanctuaries in Mexico
America's two monarch populations
Monarch Butterfly Populations
in North America
North America, two migratory populations of monarch butterflies
is much uncertainty about the exact distribution of these populations!
follows is a generalized summary:
The bigger monarch population remains east of the Rocky Mountains.
These eastern monarchs overwinter on 12 mountaintops Mexico. They
breed throughout much of the central and eastern U.S. and Canada.
Most Journey North migration reports highlight sightings of these
There are 200 to 300 small
monarch colonies that winter within 5 miles of the Pacific Coast
from Ensenada, Baja California (31.5 N latitude) to Marin County,
California (38.1 N latitude). The breeding ground resources are
not known, but are assumed to run from California north to Washington
and across the Sierra Nevada to Nevada and other western states.