Today, I’m watching Flight of the Butterflies. I have to confess that I watch a lot of Netflix. I love it.
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As a home educator, I’m probably not supposed to admit that I watch a lot of TV. I’m supposed to be a bookworm. I love to read, too. But, I honestly have to admit that given a choice between reading and Netflix….I’d spend my time on Netflix.
Now that I’ve cleared that up, here’s what I’m watching today. Come, watch it with me. (If you don’t have Netflix, look for it in your library or get it on Amazon).
Flight of the Butterflies
Summary:
The Flight of the Butterflies is a documentary about the migration of the monarch butterflies. The movie traces the lifelong quest of Fred Urquhart, the zoologist who discovered where the monarchs migrate. The lifecycle of the monarch is presented as the viewer follows along with Dana, a Monarch butterfly. The movie explains the butterfly’s life cycle and migration patterns that have been discovered. There are dramatic reenactments and story narration that make it easy to understand for citizen scientists of all ages.
Lessons and Discussion points:
I feel inspired by this movie and want to know more and do more. If you’re looking for more, too, here are some talking points you might use:
Want to roleplay and imagine being a butterfly?
This scarf/cape would be perfect for that!
- Lessons about identifying butterflies, lifecycle, habitat, and geography:
I love a story that inspires curiosity. You might want to locate Mexico on a map. Draw out the lifecycle of a butterfly. Find out what sort of milkweed grows in your area and what kind of flowers provide nectar for a butterfly oasis.But, there is also another species of butterfly that is commonly confused with the monarch. It’s the Viceroy.
Check out more about the differences between them: Monarch or Viceroy? - Teamwork:
Fred’s innovation for tagging and tracking could never work if it were just him or just experts doing the work. The effective monitoring of the Monarchs takes teamwork. And there is still more work that needs to be done because there are still mysteries about the Monarch migration patterns. The movement pattern here in South Carolina is not clear. We need more citizen scientists to get involved in tracking them. Find out more about Monarch Watch and order a tagging kit. Be a citizen scientist. - Lifelong passion:
Fred’s interest in Monarchs started when he was a young boy. He wanted to know more–and pursued that interest his entire life. I don’t know who encouraged him along to the way to continue in that quest or if he just found the inner strength to keep on going. The trial and error for finding the right tagging system.But, I think it’s worth considering for myself, as a home educator. The future is full of unknowns–and we are educating the young minds that will solve them. What questions are my children asking–and what problems would they like to address in the world? In what ways can we encourage our young people to think, question, and dream?
Click here for more about Monarchs and Migration
[…] a previous post, we looked at the Flight of the Butterflies on Netflix. Today, we’re talking about how to extend that study into a long-term unit study about […]