COMMENTS FROM PARTICIPANTS

The feedback we have received regarding our Monarchs in Space program has been overwhelmingly positive. All comments are welcome - please send them to us via email at space@monarchwatch.org. To make things easy on our webmaster (ok, yeah, that's me) please use "MIS Comments" as the subject of the email message. Thanks! ~Jim

Dear friends at Monarch Watch,

I am profoundly grateful for all that has come our way through our participation in this project. In our classroom, 12 monarchs are happily (!) feeding on Gatorade saturated pompoms, exploring the hands and finger "perches" of my kindergartners, and flying brilliantly in the screened terrarium that hangs from the ceiling.

Watching the children handle the monarchs today rendered me speechless; though I've been working with kindergartners for 16 years, I am inspired by the focus and concentration, the kind regard, and the gentle, thoughtful, compassionate presence children have when they "grow up" with butterflies in their hands.

I think every child in the world needs a little butterfly.

All the hard work you've put into this project was worth it a million times over...thank you!

Ann W.
Kindergarten Teacher


Thanks so much for getting this wonderful experiment together. What a huge job! And done flawlessly!!

I got a rearing kit for my granddaughter in Upper Elementary and my grandson in Lower Elementary at The Westwood School in Dallas. I don't know who are more excited, the teachers or the kids.

I wanted to share with you some of the comments by my 9 year old grandson about Monarchs In Space. I talk with my grandkids on their way to school, and they can't wait to get there to see what's going on with the larvae. Charlie (3rd grade) is really into the experiment.

When I asked him if they would be using the butterfly pavilion I got for them a couple of years ago, he told me, "No, Grampa, we are Plan B." What a hoot!

I asked him what that was, and he explained it to me in GREAT detail, including, how to build the rearing chamber, what the larvae will eat and added statements such as "We can't release the butterflies because it will be too cold and they can't migrate," "We will feed them Gatorade because it has everything that they need....... sugar, electrolytes (I didn't know that word until I was in med school) and water."

He also told me that he thought that the caterpillars would be able to hang on to the walls of the chamber and not float, but he was concerned that all of them may not be able to pupate. He was also concerned that the wings wouldn't expand when the butterflies eclosed.

Cheers, Kip K.


My second grade class is excited about this investigation. Thank you for making this learning opportunity available to us.

Thanks! Pam W.


What a great day we had putting the chambers together. I rushed out to get salad mix to use the containers for the chambers.  The kids came up with an experiment for the other three caterpillars.  They want to know if exposing them to 6 hours day/night cycles will affect their growth.  Many of them think the 12 hour cycle caterpillars will grow better.  Anyway, they are sitting in the dark now until Wednesday morning.  In the meantime, I have taken digital photos of the caterpillar on last Friday (111309) and today (111609). [ See the photos in the Monarchs in Space Gallery ] I thought you might enjoy these.  They were taken with a Kena digital microscope.  I wanted the kids to be able to observe the caterpillars more closely as they develop.  Thanks again for a great opportunity.

Sincerely, Leslie C.


Hello Monarch Watch,

Thank you for letting us be a part of this experiment.  Our students are thrilled.  We made our chambers on Friday (Nov. 13) and loaded our larva into the chambers this morning (Monday, Nov. 16). Our local newspaper (Texarkana Gazette) has already written a story about the event.  It was in this mornings paper. One of our local TV stations (KTBS Texarkana/Shreveport) came today and intervied our students for a spot on the 6 0'clock local news.

We are sending you pictures of our progress.  All of the pictures were taken by third and fourth grade students at Kilpatrick Elementary School in Texarkana, Arkansas.  They are very eager to see the results of their experiment and of yours on the ISS.

Thanks again for letting us take part in your experiment.

Mike and Anita B.
Science Lab Teachers


We are loving this!  Thank you for your hard work!

Kami H.


Hello all Monarch people!
 
I think one of your intentions and goals for this project is to give students a wonderful learning experience. My second grade students are so excited to be participating in your Monarchs in Space project.

In August and September we raised Monarch caterpillars in our classroom. I live in Ohio where the eggs are very easy to find, especially since I now grow milkweed in my backyard.  My students enjoyed raising many from egg to butterfly. After that experience the children have wonderful background knowledge about the Monarch life cycle and saw all the stages develop until the adult butterfly emerged. Your project is providing them with such an extension of their previous learning. All of the students are very curious to discover how the caterpillars are affected by a microgravity environment. We are waiting to see the pictures of the space caterpillars any day now. In addition my class has been totally engrossed with the study of the Space Shuttle and International Space Station.

Thank you so much for providing the opportunity to participate!!!!
 
Judy H.


Hi,

We are very excited to be part of this experiment!

Thanks,
Ilene L.


Our school is a nearby high school and we are sharing our monarch project with a 5th grade class. We made up two rearing chambers; we kept one in our science lab and gave the other one to the elementary school. The elementary school students are very enthusiastic about their new classmates.
  
Thank you so much for allowing schools to participate in this project.
 
Mary Anna T.


Hello friends!

My kindergartners and I are having so much fun with this project!

Ann W.

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