Princeton Day School teachers, with Interim Head of Middle School Alesia Klein, releases a monarch butterfly for its annual migration to Mexico.
Princeton Day School (PDS) Upper School Science Teacher Barbara Maloney and fellow teachers have orchestrated a cross-divisional project to help students learn about the annual migration of the monarch butterfly. Maloney worked closely with Interim Head of Middle School Alesia Klein, who is involved with Monarch Watch, an education, conservation, and research program based at the University of Kansas that focuses on the monarch butterfly, its habitat, and its spectacular fall migration for many years.
Participating students cared for their own butterfly larvae for nearly a month, observing and documenting their metamorphoses. Before the butterflies were released, they were carefully tagged with an ID number. Their data sheets were then sent to the Monarch Watch in Kansas. Students will wait to be notified of whether or not their butterflies were identified.
The project culminated in a butterfly release party on Oct. 10. At least 150 students gathered from all three schools to enjoy a butterfly-themed cake, while a fifth grade student read a Native American Legend about butterflies and the Upper School girls a cappella group sang a traditional song, “Goin’ Down To Mexico (The Monarch Butterfly Song).”
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