To be involved in this year's project, visit Journey North.

This fall, the first annual "symbolic monarch butterfly migration" will be launched in collaboration with Mexico City's Museo del Nino (Children's Museum) and museums and schools across North America. You're invited to join the celebration as students across the United States and Canada create thousands of paper butterflies which will "migrate" to Mexico for the winter.

The fall flight will be timed to correspond with the real monarchs' journey south. The paper butterflies will arrive in Mexico around the time of the Dia de los Muertos (November 1), just as the real monarchs do. According to Mexican legend, these returning butterflies are thought to carry the ancestors' souls and play a role in the Dia de los Muertos celebrations. Mexican students at the Museo del Nino will greet the butterflies and watch over them during the winter months.

At the same time in the mountains nearby, the entire eastern population of North American monarch butterflies will rest in Mexico for the winter. Sometime next March, when the real monarchs' departure from Mexico is announced, the paper butterflies will return to North America. Each butterfly will carry a special message from the Mexican students to the students in Canada and U. S. who made them.

The migration of the monarch butterfly is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena in the world. It is also considered an "endangered phenomena" because scientists fear this incredible journey may not last beyond the next decade. This celebration will symbolize an international partnership between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Joined by a fragile butterfly, shared hope will be carried across borders and between generations.

Let your imagination go wild as you design your own monarch. Or feel free to follow one of the designs found on Journey North's WWW site. With the help of your school's art teacher, explore how your butterflies might be designed and decorated. What materials could you use to convey the fragile nature of a butterfly? What materials are needed to make sure your monarch survives its journey south, the winter months in Mexico, and its journey north next spring?

All Butterflies Must Include:

1. A message of conservation and friendship for a Mexican student, so your butterfly can serve as an ambassador of goodwill.
2. Your name and address.
3. Space for a return message from a Mexican student.

Suggestions:

• Please print CLEARLY, or print your message on a computer, so it's easy to read.
• You may want to include these things in your message: The distance your butterfly will travel to Mexico City (in km and miles), your e-mail address, your latitude and longitude.
• For extra writing space, make a tiny envelope and glue it under the butterfly's wing. Insert a letter inside.
• "Tag" your butterfly the way a real monarch is tagged (A self-adhesive label would work well).
• If possible, write your message in Spanish.

Remember, migration is a risky business. Please follow these instructions very carefully so your butterflies survive their migration!!

• Butterflies should be received by October 20, 1996.
• Mail your butterflies in a large manila envelope to: Journey North, 125 North First Street , Minneapolis, Minnesota 55401 USA
• On the front of the envelope, indicate the number of butterflies enclosed.
• MOST IMPORTANTLY! You must enclose a large, self-addressed, stamped manila envelope for your butterflies' return trip. The postage must be sufficient to mail the butterflies back to you from the Journey North office in the U.S. (The monarchs will not be mailed from Mexico, so either U. S. or Canadian postage is fine.)

The Journey North office will become a migration staging area for paper butterflies this fall. In late October, the butterflies will be packaged into large boxes and carried to Mexico. They will be on display all winter at the Papalote, Museo del Nino, where hundreds of children will see them every day. When the real monarchs leave Mexico in the spring, our friends at Papalote will return the butterflies to the Journey North office. There they will be put into the envelopes which you and other classrooms provided for their return trip. Sometime next spring, your envelope will arrive and inside you'll find the same number of butterflies you sent to Mexico--but they won't be your own. These new butterflies will tell you their stories, as you discover who made them and where they have travelled.

As you prepare to send your monarch to Mexico, the following resources and activities may be helpful.

Resources

• Tape C-NBC News on Saturday, OCTOBER 5 at 5:30 pm (Eastern Daylight Time) The Journey North program will be featured, including beautiful footage of the monarch sanctuaries in Mexico.
• The discovery of the monarch wintering sanctuaries in Mexico was announced by Dr. Fred Urquhart exactly 20 years ago in the August, 1976 issue of National Geographic. Dr. and Mrs. Urqhuart tagged the first monarchs 59 years ago--and graciously agreed to tag the first paper monarchs for this symbolic migration!
• The August, 1996 issue of National Geographic is devoted entirely to Mexico and the EarthAlmanac page in the back provides a photo and update on the monarch sanctuaries.
• Explore Journey North's 1996 Monarch Migration section on the WWW at: http://www.learner.org/k12 Plan to track the monarchs' migration with Journey North next spring. The program begins on February 2, 1997 with news from the monarch wintering sanctuaries.

Activities

• How Far Will Your Monarch Travel? Measure the distance between your home town and Mexico City. How many miles/km will your butterfly travel? What places will your butterfly cross on its way to Mexico? What does the monarch need along the route? Write a short story about your butterfly's journey south, from a monarch's perspective.
• When Do Monarchs Leave Your Area? Keep a record of monarch sightings by students in your classroom this fall. When was the last monarch seen? Each week, take a walk outside and look for flowers. Keep track of the date you see the last goldenrod or other wild asters in bloom. When does the first frost occur? What happens to the flowers? How does the date of first frost compare to the date the last monarch butterfly was seen?
• Where Do the Monarchs Go? All migratory monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains spend the winter in just 9 major sanctuaries in Mexico! See the map of these sanctuaries on the Journey North WWW site at: http://www.ties.k12. mn.us/~jnorth/graphics/monarchmap1.gif Look carefully and see if you can form a theory about the monarchs' winter habitat. Why do you suppose monarchs go to these sites? What seems to be unique about them?

• Papalote, Museo del Nino (Children's Museum of Mexico City)
• The Canadian Museum of Nature
• The Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)
• The Science Museum of Minnesota
• The Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcasting Math & Science Project
• The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

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