Two Great Videos About Monarch Butterflies
“Understanding leads to interest, and interest leads to compassion.” --Dr. Douglas Tallamy, entomologist, University of Delaware
For your viewing pleasure, here are two mighty fine videos on the monarch butterfly.
The North American monarch butterfly migration is one of the wonders of the natural world. With a wingspan of only four inches, they fly as far as 2000 miles south to Mexico each fall. But because of habitat loss and pesticides, the monarch populations have declined by over 90% since the 1970s.
Monarchs need milkweed. And since rural areas and farmland have lost most of their milkweed, some of us in cities are trying to fill the void.
This includes Catherine Graber, teacher of “Experiential Learning” at Bloom Elementary in Louisville, Kentucky. Ms. Graber has the support of Idlewild Butterfly Farm, a local business, and “Wild Ones Native Plants, Natural Landscapes,” a native plant society, of which I am President.
Ms. Graber asked me to recommend educational videos related to monarchs.
Here is my reply.
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Dear Ms. Graber:
As per your request, here is an excellent five minute video for kids about monarchs.
It’s from the World Wildlife Foundation and gives all the basic facts I would want people to understand, not least of all that milkweed is the only plant monarch caterpillars can eat. No milkweed, no monarchs.
But this video has two factual errors.
First, it says monarchs are pollinators, but monarchs do not pollinate, according to famed entomologist Dr. Doug Tallamy.
They drink the nectar from the flower, but do not gather pollen.. Pollinators, like bees, drink nectar, but they also gather pollen and transfer it from plant to plant, so that plants can reproduce.
Secondly, the video says that pollination is necessary for 35% of our crops. It’s more like 8% according to Doug Tallamy. The 35% figure is a popular misconception, but it was never established scientifically.
The main reason we need pollination is so that plants can reproduce. That’s the only reason we have oxygen to breathe. Plants produce oxygen as part of photosynthesis. No plants, no oxygen. No oxygen, no human life.
80% of plants need pollinators to reproduce. Another 10% are pollinated by wind, like oak trees. Another 10% do not require pollination.
So if we lose our pollinators, then 80% of our plants will disappear, and we would die. This fact should be emphasized more than the loss of 8% of our crops.
ONE MORE VIDEO
Here is a 52 minute video from the PBS series NOVA. I’ve watched it multiple times, and it’s very good. It is masterfully narrated by Stockard Channing of Grease and West Wing fame.
It explores the wonder and mystery of the monarch migration. How do they know which direction to fly to Mexico if they’ve never been there?
As I recall, some scientists did an experiment. They captured some monarchs in Kansas. From Kansas, Mexico is directly south. But the scientists took the monarchs to Virginia and released them. At first they flew directly South, from Virginia. But then somehow they knew they were not headed to Mexico, so they changed their direction.
How did they know to change their direction? What is the homing mechanism?
Maybe your students can speculate. Maybe they will be stumped. I’m not sure anyone knows for sure.
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To the reader: Please take time to watch one or both of these videos. We mistreat the natural world because we do not understand it. For many people, the story of the monarch butterfly is the gateway drug that leads to understanding, interest, compassion and action.