To meet our “Life Science” standards, our third grade will be participating in the “Journey North” project. Knowing that our students already have some basic schema about eggs, chickens, caterpillars, and butterflies, we decided to spice things up a bit and focus more on the role migration plays in the life cycles of various animals. The monarch migration is especially compelling, and participating in the cross-cultural exchange of “Journey North” also helps address some of our geography standards, as well as our quest for teaching with a more global perspective. We are going to meld National Geographic “Great Migrations,” “Journey North,” “Discovery Education,” and other resources to bring the content “to life.”
As the “entry event” for our project, called “On the Move,” we will watch the Discovery Education video, “From Milkweed to Mexico:”
segments 3, 4, and 5. Following this, we will create a large paper monarch that we will mail to a classroom in Mexico located near the forests where the monarchs complete stage 1 of their life cycle (Journey North, 2012). The digital component of this entry event will capitalize on the visual strengths that learners bring to the classroom. Good videos really hook my kids into the content…almost ANY content is exciting for them in this format. This entry activity that combines engaging video and the symbolic migration art project will serve as a great kick-off for our year-long exploration. As the year goes on, we will add the migratory habits of marine mammals, Christmas Island red crabs, wildebeests, Sand Hill cranes, robins…eventually extending the study to include the migration of human populations.
Annenberg Learner. (2007-2012). Journey north. A global study of wildlife migration
and seasonal change. Retrieved from: http://www.learner.org/jnorth
National Geographic Society. (2010). Great migrations. Retrieved from:
TV Ontario (Producer). (1994). World of nature: monarch butterfly: milkweed to Mexico.
[Full Video]. Available from http://www.discoveryeducation.com
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