#4736. Migration Maps

Geography, level: 1-2
Posted 10/20/2013 by Robin Dobson (Robin Dobson).
Robin Dobson Books
Santa Barbara, USA
Materials Required: Migration Maps
Activity Time: 30 Minutes for first lesson.
Concepts Taught: Animal Migration

Because the Monarchs are always migrating I can fold these appealing creatures into my lessons for every season, not just spring when we may be studying metamorphosis!

We ask, where are the Monarchs right now? Make some guesses. Do some research, and find out!

There are some cool migratory sighting maps online that are updated constantly (just search for Monarch Migration). I tie this in to social studies and geography. You can even enter your own Monarch sightings into the maps if you take a nature walk.

If the kids are still interested we tie into math by making origami airplanes with Monarch wings. Just search for "monarch origami airplane" and you will find some cool templates. We talk about squares, rectangles, triangles, diagonal, horizontal, vertical, half, quarter, then count all our airplanes. We do experiments with shape modification, use paper clips, measure how far our airplanes flew, try to influence which direction the airplanes will fly... and on, and on.

Get flying!