from Mexico and back again

Did you know the Monarch Butterflies seen migrating through Manitoba will not be the same ones that return next year?

A Rocha’s participation in the Monarch Teacher Network’s workshop taught us this and a whole lot more about this amazing insect. We learned how the life cycle of the Monarch is used to teach biology, botany, sociology, foreign language and even geography. We constructed indoor enclosures to house the Milk Weed leaves with Monarch eggs on them. These soon hatched into caterpillars that were then moved to the next enclosure for development into adult Monarch Butterflies. Once they emerge and after “pumping up their wings,” they took a quick drink of sugar water and were ready to be released.

At the Pembina Valley Field Station, some of our very young A Rocha friends had the pleasure of releasing 13 Monarchs to migrate south. The look on the children’s faces as “their” Monarch took flight was delightful and proved to us once again that up close and personal encounters with creation are transformative.