Update from Central Lee Third Grade:
Third graders are studying the life cycle of a Monarch this month, thanks to a grant from Iowa State University and Monarch Watch. Every third grade student can rear their own Monarch from an egg to an adult Monarch butterfly. Central Lee is one of 50 districts participating in the Monarch Eggs project. That includes over 270 classrooms and likely more than 6,000 students!
Students were responsible for transferring their caterpillars to new homes, Feeding, and daily cleaning. We will be tagging our butterflies once they emerge and track them as this generation of Monarchs travels to Mexico to winter in a warmer climate. This is such a unique experience for our school and another way we can be proud of Central Lee!
Looking forward to a great year,
Mrs. Balentine
Mrs. Campbell
Mrs. Johnson
Mrs. Kruse
Mrs. Wright
Here’s what our students had to say about raising Monarchs:
What was your favorite part of raising the Monarch?
3C
Harper — Feeding it and watching it grow
Kamden — Feeding them
Kaylee — Letting it go
Kinley — Feeding them and taking care of them
Grady — Feeding it everyday
Aubrey — Feeding them
Zoey — Feeding them
Cashten — Letting it go
Weston — The butterflies changing
Brody — Watching them grow
Raylee — Letting it go
Monica — That they started as a baby then pupa, then chrysalis then butterfly
Madelyn — Feeding them
Wyatt — Letting them go
Nathaniel — I can draw them now
Bianca — Letting it go
Valarie — Watching them fly away
Greyson — Having them as a pet
Logan — Feeding them
3J
The best part about raising Monarchs is...
Winnie: Watching them grow
June: Seeing them fly
Alayna: It's fun to watch them hatch, and it's fun to draw them.
Alivia: I can see what they look like when they're done, and I can see what they're like.
Braxton: You can watch them transform.
Braiden: When you get to let them loose
Connor: We get to see them in their chrysalis.
Emma: Watching them get in their caterpillar
Mikayla: It's cool that we get to see their chrysalis.
Nick: Feeding them and watching them turn into their chrysalis and butterflies. It's really cool.
Mary Jane: Getting to see how they change
Kylie: We get to see how they change, and we get to raise them safely.
Vincent: Seeing them grow
Delbert: I don't know.
Megan: It's cool to watch.
Nolan: They are so big.
Jaxson: You get to see the way they grow and the way they transform.
3W
What was your favorite part of raising the Monarch?
Gweny — Watching them grow
Brilee — Being able to write about their life cycle
Hunter — Watching them eat
Emmie — Watching the egg
Harper — Watching them being released
Ben — When they were in the pupa stage
Valerie — releasing them
James — Becoming a butterfly
Colton — Becoming a butterfly
Kanten — Watching it became a butterfly
Gavin — While it was a larva
Drake — When the larva was very little
Ophelia — Being able to give the butterfly a name
Jah’Neva — A butterfly
Joshua — How fast it grew during the larva stage
Grace — Watching the larva grow bigger
Conner — Being able to feed it
Stella — Giving it a name
3K
What was your favorite part of raising the butterfly?
Seeley — Watching the butterfly break out of the chrysalis.
Hadley — How the caterpillar turned into a chrysalis.
Serenity — When it was coming out of the chrysalis and pumped the blood to its wings
Robert — Seeing larvae grow by eating milkweed.
Cash — When the larva turned into the chrysalis.
Mikaela -When we released the butterfly.
Alexis — The butterfly coming out and seeing the white dots.
Kayden — When the chrysalis turned into a butterfly.
Michelle — When we released the butterfly.
Joseph — When we released the butterfly and when the larva turned into a chrysalis.
Aiden — Watching it hatch.
Kenton — The larva changing into a pupa or chrysalis.
Cheyenne — Seeing the poop got bigger and bigger.
Makayla — When they went through complete metamorphosis and we let them go.
JoyAnna — That we got to let them go.
Jordan — When the caterpillar kept shedding its skin or molting.
Aubree — How the larva turned into a chrysalis.
K’Lee — When it came out of the chrysalis it was kind of funny and the butterfly was glorious.
3B
Barrett — Raising the butterfly, watching them come out of the chrysalis, and letting them go.
Casen — Letting them go.
Tessa — Feeding the butterflies and letting them go.
Tanner — Letting the butterflies go and having one land on me!
Brynlee — They were colorful and fun.
Macy — I loved letting them go!
Sophia — I liked that they were a pupa and when they turned into butterflies.
Karra — My favorite part was watching them get into their chrysalis and emerge.
Brooklyn — When we let them go.
Gabriella — Seeing them change into butterflies and let them go, and taking care of them.
Cyrus — When they were little caterpillars, and when they changed into butterflies.
Talon — My favorite part was the eggs. It was such an experience.
Ashlynn — Taking care of the butterflies and the chrysalis.
Azryanna — My favorite part about the butterflies is seeing them grow up.
Cooper — My favorite part of the butterflies is when the pupa is the chrysalis and turns black and clear. My favorite part is when we let them go.
Nevaeh — My favorite part was when they were a pupa and a butterfly.