Sara Dykman followed a cluster of monarch butterflies during their migration journey.

She observed
and tracked the monarchs to understand their reproduction behaviors, habitats, and get a glimpse of
what it is like to migrate through urban and agricultural environments.

1. Introduction to Monarch Butterflies

a. Metamorphosis - they cannot survive the winters (do not have a freeze-resistant state
in metamorphosis like other butterflies)
b. Migration - annual, takes 3-5 generations of monarchs to travel the loop from Mexico
to Canada
c. Monarchs can thrive anywhere with milkweed (school grounds, backyards, roadside,
farms, and in the wild)
2. Challenge
a. Biking 10,201 miles through Mexico, several states in the US and Canada
b. Four flat tires
c. Relying on monarchs schedule and path (started 10 days later than expected, taking
dirt roads and paths through fields of corn)
3. Funny Story (I am in the process of reading her book and blogs to pick the best story)
4. Tools of the Trade
a. A notebook, tags and gps trackers on monarchs, other observers to help locate
monarchs
5. Relationship with Humans
a. How do we impact monarch butterflies?
1. Habitat fragmentation and loss
2. She watched 82/722 monarchs she was tracking get killed by cars
b. Why do we care?
1. Pollination and vital to our ecosystems
2. Food source for birds, insects, and some small animals
3. Cultural significance in Mexico
6. What Sara Dykman is doing now
a. Streaming Behavior (rapid descent of monarchs in clusters to find water and prepare
to migrate)
7. Encouragement to Readers
a. Observe monarchs in your backyard or community while they migrate
1. MonarchWatch, an organization that helps students catch, tag, and track
monarchs, especially in Canada/northern USA at the start of the migration
journey
b. Plant milkweed in your backyard
1. Milkweed is the only food source for monarch caterpillars
Sources
Monarch Butterflies Bring Together Conservation and Culture (nature.org)
Beyond A Book
Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman