Colorful butterflies have emerged at the Bridgewater-Raritan Middle School.
Middle School Science Teachers Amy Snider, Mindy Feldman, and Jennifer Johnson have been raising monarch butterflies as part of the class curriculum work this school year
Ms. Snider explained the project that has taken off —no pun intended.
“Mindy and I have been doing this for years and years, but in the past few years, we haven't been able to find any caterpillars,’ Ms. Snider said.
But Ms. Snider happily reported:
“This year, we have an abundance! We also work with Monarch Watch out of the University of Kansas to tag the butterflies before they are released to begin their annual migration to the mountains of Michoacan in Mexico...thereby contributing to the scientific data being used to understand this unbelievable migration.”
“We have over two dozen monarchs in different stages of their metamorphic life,” she said.
Ms. Snider revealed more about the study.
“The students are observing the monarchs as part of our ecology curriculum, which focuses on interactions between organisms in their community," Ms Snider said. “We are also using this opportunity to explore how scientists design observations based on questions they face while observing the natural world.”
She was thrilled on the morning of Monday, September 15, when she entered her classroom at the Middle School and was greeted by the emergence of her butterflies.
“We had 10 butterflies emerge (eclose) over the weekend. We will be feeding, tagging, and releasing all day!”
Later that morning, Ms. Snider, fellow teacher Lara Heywood, Instructional Assistant Ilene Fiorentino, and the students strolled outside to the Middle School’s garden and released two butterflies that they had earlier fed and tagged.
This interesting class project has certainly gone off.