This project is part of the Black History Month celebration because it supports a Black teacher or a school where the majority of the students are Black.
Help Us Save the Monarchs!
We are a 1/2 day Kindergarten class. Our school is unique in the fact that we have 15 different cultures represented at various grade levels. We have a wonderful Nature Center on the grounds of our school and the children love to visit! Our school has a partnership with a school in China, so we are providing connections for our students to help them explore diversity.
I introduced my students to a unit on Monarch Butterflies I had developed over the summer thinking it would be fun for them and help me get over my fear of butterflies! They ended up taking the unit in a whole different direction when they discovered that there are not enough milkweed plants to sustain all the new Monarch caterpillars that emerge each year.
The 1/2 day students have been learning about the life-cycle and migratory path of the Monarch Butterfly for much of September and October 2007. We learned that Monarch butterflies are on their way to becoming an extinct insect unless we do something to help. We would like to add to our Nature Center by planting milkweed plants to help sustain and attract these beautiful creatures. Monarch caterpillars will only eat milkweed plants as they grow and change into butterflies. We currently have one plant that could sustain 1-5 caterpillars. The Kindergarten class would like to increase that to at least 15 plants. We would also need to purchase 12 small shovels so that the students could work in pairs to plant the milkweed plants. We would also like to purchase one big book (A Butterfly is Born) and Monarch Larvae in the spring so we can watch and learn further about how they grow and develop.
Your donation will help my students see the life cycle of a Monarch Butterfly come full circle. The children will be responsible for planting the milkweed plants and caring for them, as well as caring for the Monarch Butterfly caterpillars. The Kindergarten students will also become ambassadors for our Nature Center; they will teach children in other grade levels about ecology and responsible care of Monarch Butterflies.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Poindexter and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
