Learn all about monarchs at two-day workshop
Monarch butterflies are beginning to arrive in Nova Scotia to lay their eggs, and emerge as caterpillars.
At the same time, the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute (MTRI) is offering a hands-on workshop especially for teachers. On Aug. 2 and 3 educators and butterfly enthusiasts are invited to join a rare opportunity to learn about monarch butterflies with the Monarch Teachers Network from Ontario.
Roberta Macdonald took this course the last time it was offered in Nova Scotia, back in 2010, and found it useful for her own learning - but also as an educating tool.
“The theme for the entire year in my primary classroom was monarch butterflies,” she said. “The stages of the writing process were linked to the growth cycle of butterflies and the counting of days, weeks and months took on a particular and relevant purpose.”
The workshop this year will be held at MTRI’S field station located near Kejimkujik. Handson learning activities, monitoring and tagging techniques, and information about monarch life cycles and conservation will all be presented by experts.
Resources will be included as well as materials for teachers to bring back to their classrooms.
You don’t have to be a teacher to take the course. The course is designed for anyone who wishes to learn about monarchs.
“The Monarch Teachers Network workshops have not only given me knowledge and appreciation of monarchs as a species at risk but have connected me with other teachers who share a concern for all species, who have challenges due to environmental impacts,” said Macdonald, a retired teacher. “We all need to work together and education of our youth is the place to start.”
Recovering species at risk, like the monarch, is hard work. Monarch butterflies can only lay their eggs on milkweed plants and those are in short supply across the province. The Butterfly Club offers a way to make both butterflies and gardeners happy.
“The Monarch Teacher Network workshop was the best I have ever attended, the enthusiastic leaders and volunteers shared their experience and passion not only for monarchs but the environment in general in ways that touched us deeply,” said Lisa Proulx, a teacher at Memorial Clark Rutherford School and a devoted Butterfly Club member. “The Butterfly Club has also been an excellent way to promote awareness of monarch conservation and stay in touch with other enthusiasts.”
The co-ordinator of the Butterfly Club, Carter Feltham, suggests, “if you become a member, you will receive two of your very own swamp milkweed transplants, a postcard, information on habitat, and how to report monarch sightings.”
If you are interested in registering for the workshop or becoming a member of the Butterfly Club, contact MTRI at 902-682-2371, info@merseytobeatic.ca or check out www.merseytobeatic.ca.