Butterflies of the World: Where do they live?

GIS Project and Web Site Designed for
Second Grade Classes, Dunn, Beattie and Laurel Elementary,
Ms. Deborah Taylor, Ms. Betty Ellis and Ms. Mary Ann Leber
 
 
 

Developed by:
Chris Monz and Sasha Charney
In partial fulfillment of Concepts in GIS, NR505
College of Natural Resources
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
 
 

















This geographic information system project and web site are designed for use in second grade classrooms. They are intended to supplement the overall geography curriculum, but are also applicable to earth science and biology instruction.

Specifically, this lesson is intended to help students learn geographic concepts such as direction and distance, and to learn to identify specific places on a map. The lessons also introduce students to the utility of a geographic information system by providing links to visual and written information on specific countries and regions. This project will introduce students to a variety of butterfly species by pictures and scientific names and allow them to recognize the difference between natural and human-induced migration of butterflies.

Objectives

Upon completion of this project, students should be able answer questions such as:

Project Design

The Butterflies ArcView file is organized into four different interactive views. Some of these views are demonstrative and will illustrate basic map concepts; others allow students to perform actions such as distance measurements. The instructions below provide directions on how to access and use the different views, providing study questions at each point. Step-by-step instructions are available in the teacher's instructions.

GIS Requirements

To run this project, you will need:

Instructions

Note: This project can be used both as a demonstration and as a lab where students work in small groups

Setup:
1.    Download this web site and obtain a copy of the ArcView butterflies.apr file.
2.    Leave the web site open and reduce the window to half of your computer screen.

(Note, once the web site is fully downloaded, your internet connection can be terminated. Links to other web sites will no longer be active, but these are not necessary for the basic project.)
3.    Open ArcView and in the Open Project Window click on "open an existing project". Click OK.
4.    Select the project butterflies.apr, then click OK.
5.    Once the project is open, reduce the ArcView window to half your computer screen.

For this project, you will need the following tools:

    This is the information tool. It is used to find information about the feature of interest. To use this tool, first highlight the theme of interest, click on a particular feature of that theme, such as a country, and a window with information will appear on the screen.
 

    This is the measuring tool. It is used to measure distances on the map between two or more locations. To use this tool, click on the first location, then move your cursor to the second location, and double click. The distance will appear in the bottom left corner of the ArcView window.
 

    This is the hot link tool. It is used to link to images and documents relating to a particular feature. To use this tool, first highlight the theme of interest, click on a particular feature of that theme, such as a country, and a window with images and/or text will appear on the screen.

For teacher instructions click here
For an answer key click here
For metadata click  here

Lesson One            Lesson Two        Lesson Three        Lesson Four

Lesson One:

To begin, click on the first view (1.World View) in the butterflies.apr window. as shown below. Click on open.














Questions:
1. Where is Colorado on the map? How can you check if this answer is correct?
2. Can you find and name the countries and US state that send butterflies to Colorado? Hint: look for the brightly colored places on the map.
3. What butterflies live in these countries? Use the hot link tool to find a picture of a butterfly from the brightly colored countries and state.
4. Is Ecuador north, south, east or west of Colorado? What about the other countries and states highlighted on the map?
5. How far do these butterflies travel to reach Colorado? Use the measuring tool to measure the distance from each country or state to Colorado.
6. It's very far from Malaysia, the Phillipines and Taiwan to Colorado. Is there more than one way to measure distance to Colorado from these countries?

Return to Objectives

Lesson Two:

Now close World View and open the second view entitled "2. North and South America."














Questions:
1. What do you notice about the region of the earth where the countries that send butterflies are? Is there a special name for this region? What imaginary line runs through the middle of it?
2. Measure the distance between countries again. Have these distances changed? If so, why?
3. Click on the brightly colored countries and state. Have the butterflies changed? Do you think there are many or few butterflies in these countries?

Return to Objectives


Lesson Three:

Close the North and South America view and open "3. North America."














Questions:
1. What two countries have the majority of the monarch buttefly population on this map? Click on either of these countries with the hotlink tool.
2. If you wanted to see monarch butterflies in the summer, where would you find them?
3. If you wanted to see monarch butterflies in the winter, where would you go?
4. Why do you suppose the monarch butterflies travel south in the fall and north in the spring?
5. Notice the pattern of the red arrows. What part of the country does not have any arrows? What do you know about the geography of this part of the country? How would this influence the butterflies?
6. The butteflies have to travel a long distance when they migrate. How long do butterflies usually live? How do these butterflies travel so far?

Return to Objectives

Lesson Four:














Questions:
1. The blue dots represent cities. Can you find Fort Collins, Westminster, Boulder, Denver, Grand Junction and Pueblo? How can you make sure that your choice is right?
2. What is the city furthest south on this map?
3. How far is it from Fort Collins to Westminster?
4. Do you notice anything that is similar about where cities and rivers are located? If so, what pattern do you see? Why might this be true?
5. Is there anything similar about the location of highways and cities? Can you give any reasons for the patterns you see?

Return to Objectives


Want to see these butterflies for yourself? Why not visist the Butterfly Pavillion and Insect Center in Westminister, Colorado?

Interested in butterflies? There are many resources on the internet, and many of these contain lists of other sites. Some of our favorite sites include:

 The Butterfly WebSite
 The Childrens Butterfly Site
 Monarch Watch
 Butterflies of North America
 Andrew Neild's Neotropical Butterfly Site
 

Background and butterfly world image obtained from  Butterflies are Free
Butterfly images in ArcView obtained from  Butterfly Pavillion and Insect Center and The Butterfly WebSite Photo Gallery