Monarchs in Space - Classrooms Wanted ASAP!

[Paul Cherubini]

If 20 schools raise a total of 120 monarch caterpillars in November, what are the schools supposed to do with the adults butterflies when they emerge from their chrysalids in late November or December?

[Mona Miller]

In the county of Fairfax, Virginia schools raise Painted Ladies in October and then again in March. Most of the weather during those months do not allow the adults to survive. They are raised on artificial diet. I asked the science coordinate just how many they let go. He said up to 9,000.

How many animals are being used in school science labs?

I guess they figure there is value in the learning of their life cycle. I'm figuring the same goes for sending the Monarchs into space. The value of sacrificing butterflies for learning. Will that translate into saving butterflies or maybe saving humans.

[texas butterfly]

Where is the additional information on this site about the Monarchs in Space program?

thanks,
T. Butterfly

[Mona Miller]

Jim sent this out as a Monarch Watch Update. It was posted to the duplex list serve, but has not been posted to the Monarch Watch Forum or Blog:

> Date: Wed, 4 Nov 2009 17:32:09 -0600
> To: MONARCH-WATCH-UPDATE@ku.edu
> From: Jim Lovett <jlovett@ku.edu>
> Subject: Monarchs in Space - Classrooms Wanted ASAP!

>
> WANTED: Up to 20 schools (in the U.S., east of the Rocky Mountains)
> to follow the development of monarchs on the International Space
> Station.
>
> We need to have you commit to this program by 5PM on Friday afternoon
> (November 6th) - sorry for the short notice!
>
> --------------------
> Background
> --------------------
> The next Space Shuttle launch is scheduled for November 16th.
> Atlantis will carry three 4th instar monarch caterpillars to the
> International Space Station (ISS) in a small rearing chamber. This
> chamber will be placed in an incubator aboard the ISS where the
> developing monarchs will be monitored. Still and video cameras will
> continually capture images, which will be made available online.
>
> We have prepared a text that outlines normal development of monarchs
> from the fourth instar until emergence as adults. This detailed text
> is written for adults and contains an extensive glossary. It is
> intended to provide the information teachers need to answer student
> questions and as a guide to the five major challenges monarchs face
> in the nearly weightless environment of the International Space
> Station.
>
> --------------------
> Participation
> --------------------
> If you would like your school or classroom to participate, please
> contact us at monarch@ku.edu before 5PM this Friday (November 6th).
>
> Monarch Watch will send a special monarch larva kit to participating
> schools. The monarch kit costs $17.95 and the overnight shipping will
> be an additional $26 for a total of $43.95. BioServe Space
> Technologies will send participating classrooms a kit that includes a
> rearing chamber (similar to the one going into space) with
> instructions.
>
> The kit consists of six 3rd instar larvae on artificial diet and
> additional cups of diet. Three larvae will be loaded into the rearing
> chamber. One of the cups with diet will be used to fill the feeding
> trays in the chamber you will receive from BioServe. The other cups
> of diet can be used to feed the remaining larvae until they are ready
> to add to the finishing cups. Additional instructions will be
> provided regarding these points.
>
> If you participate in this program your students will be able to
> follow the shuttle mission to the space station and the development
> of the monarchs in space for at least two weeks.
>
> The background materials, additional instructions, and relevant links
> will be available at www.monarchwatch.org
>
> If you have any questions, please let us know!
>
> Jim
> --
> Jim Lovett
> Monarch Watch
> http://monarchwatch.org

[Mona Miller]

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stati ... SI-03.html
Here is the NASA write up on the project.
It mentions the Monarch butterfly in the 'Experiment/Payload Description' section.

Apparently, this was done in 2008:
http://www.physorg.com/news145550073.html
CU-Boulder to launch butterfly, spider K-12 experiments Nov. 14 on space shuttle

http://www.hobbyspace.com/nucleus/HSblo ... emid=15224
Space Florida and BioServe Provide 10 Florida Elementary Schools Opportunity to Study “Butterflies in Space” on STS-129
Deadline to apply is September 30, 2009

[Paul Cherubini]

I guess they figure there is value in the learning of their life cycle. I'm figuring the same goes for sending the Monarchs into space. The value of sacrificing butterflies for learning. Will that translate into saving butterflies or maybe saving humans.

The 120 caterpillars that will be sold to the 20 participating schools in November won't be sent to space. They will be raised in classrooms and so the 120 adult butterflies that emerge in late Nov. or Dec. will have to be:
a) put to death (e.g. frozen)
b) held indoors in captivity for life
c) released outdoors where it is lethally cold in Dec.

[Mona Miller]

So will the 9,000 Painted Ladies that Fairfax County releases.

Nothing to argue about. Monarch Watch is providing an educational opportunity. Bioserve is providing a connnection with the space station. 120 Monarchs is nothing compared to the 250 million located in Mexico.

Why do you even bother to post to this forum when all you want to do is put down Monarch Watch, complain, and start arguments?

[Mona Miller]

I had a teacher friend who kept a fall Monarch who could not fly. She fed him Juicy, Juicy. His name was Monty and he lived for about 3 months. So, I would suggest that they keep them indoors and feed them until they pass away. They may live long enough for the weather to warm up and then they can be released outside.