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Monarchs on the Move

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Monarchs on the Move

Use a map, photos and words to learn where, when and why.

Read and look

Read the article. Then read what the map and each photo show. Pretend you can see them.

Monarchs on the Move

1Monarch butterflies have bright orange wings with black lines and white dots. Many monarchs that live in the eastern United States and Canada make a very long trip each year. Map 1 shows where they go.

2The trip south begins in fall, when the days grow shorter and the air turns cool. The monarchs fly during the day and stop at flowers to sip nectar. They are headed toward warmer weather.

3Why do monarchs travel so far? A cold winter would harm them, and the flowers they sip from would be gone. So they fly to the mountain forests of Mexico. There, they rest in thick clusters on fir trees until spring.

4In spring, the monarchs leave the mountain forests and fly north again. They do not fly all the way back. They stop in the southern United States, where milkweed is growing. There, the females lay eggs on the milkweed leaves. The eggs hatch into caterpillars, which eat the leaves. The new butterflies keep flying north. It takes several generations of monarchs to reach Canada again.

Map 1: The Monarch Trip
A map of North America shows three places labeled from top to bottom: Canada, the United States, and Mexico. A thick arrow labeled "Fall" starts in Canada, curves down through the middle of the United States, and ends at a star in the mountains of central Mexico. The star is labeled "Winter forest." A thin arrow labeled "Spring" starts at the star and points north. It stops in the southern United States.
Photo 1
A close-up photo shows a fat caterpillar with yellow, black and white stripes chewing on the edge of a green leaf.
Caption: A monarch caterpillar eats a milkweed leaf.
Photo 2
A photo of a mountain forest shows hundreds of orange butterflies covering the branches of a fir tree.
Caption: Monarchs rest in thick clusters on fir trees in Mexico.

Where and when

Use the map, the photos and the article to answer each question.

1.
Look at Map 1. Where does the thick arrow end?
Question 1 options
2.
Use Map 1 and paragraph 3. Write the name of the country where the monarchs spend the winter.

The monarchs spend the winter in .

3.
When do monarchs fly along the thin arrow on Map 1?
Question 3 options
4.
The thick arrow is labeled Fall. What is happening to the weather when monarchs start this trip?
Question 4 options
5.
Sort each event by the season when it happens. Use the article and Map 1.

Why and how

Use the pictures and the words together.

6.
Read paragraph 3. Underline the sentence that tells why monarchs must leave the north.

7.
Look at the thin arrow on Map 1. Why does it stop in the southern United States instead of reaching Canada?
Question 7 options
8.
Use Photo 1 and paragraph 4. Why do female monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed?
Question 8 options
9.
Match each part of the map or each photo to what it helps you understand.
10.
Use Map 1 and the article. Explain why monarchs fly south in fall.