Chapter 1 HALLOWEEN’S COMING Finley Flowers got her water bottle out of her cubby and guzzled down the rest of her water She’d been playing tag when her teacher Ms Bird called the class in from recess Finley’s best friend Henry Lin had chased her all the way to the school doors and she was still trying to catch her breath Everyone take a seat Ms Bird said as the rest of the fourth-grade class trickled in from the hall We have some exciting things to talk about As the students hurried to their desks Ms Bird turned on the projector and turned off the lights Then she pressed a button on the remote A picture of an orange-and-black butterfly appeared on the board If you’ve been playing outside lately you might have spotted one of these Ms Bird said Can anyone tell me what it is Henry raised his hand It’s a monarch butterfly I saw one in our garden Yes Ms Bird’s eyes lit up Every fall millions of monarchs take a long journey up to three thousand miles In October they pass through our area on their way to Mexico Finley’s friend Olivia Snotham raised her hand Did you say three thousand miles Ms Bird nodded Amazing isn’t it Whoa Finley thought Butterflies are tough How can a tiny butterfly fly that far she asked Monarch magic Ms Bird pressed the remote and a chart labeled Monarch Life Cycle came up on the board Every spring butterflies from Mexico travel north
stopping to lay their eggs on the undersides of milkweed leaves When the eggs hatch the hungry monarch caterpillars munch on the milkweed and grow and grow and grow Like The Very Hungry Caterpillar Henry whispered to Finley I loved that book Ms Bird clicked to the next slide which showed a picture of a smooth green pod hanging from a leaf The caterpillars form chrysalises she continued where they go through some big changes eventually becoming A butterfly stretching its wings appeared on the screen Butterflies everyone said together Ms Bird smiled Exactly Then those new monarch butterflies continue the journey north and lay their eggs and the cycle begins again This series of changes from egg to butterfly is called metamorphosis
That really is like magic Finley said Every spring and summer several generations of butterflies go through this
process Ms Bird explained Each butterfly lives as an adult for an average of four to six weeks But the fall butterflies are really special Why Olivia asked Ms Bird wrote fall butterflies on the board This generation of butterflies lives for seven to nine months They store extra energy from the nectar they drink on the long trip all the way back to Mexico the same place their ancestors started the journey There’s not a lot of food for them there so they’ll need that extra energy to survive the winter Finley’s friend Kate raised her hand Wait if the fall butterflies have never been to Mexico how do they know where to fly It’s like the monarchs have some type of built-in compass to guide them Ms Bird said Scientists think that compass tells the butterflies the time of day and the position of the sun so they can find their way south Kind of like the GPS in our car Henry said Kind of Ms Bird pressed the remote The screen showed a picture of trees covered with butterflies After the long journey the monarchs rest in the mountains Their heart rates slow and they huddle together for warmth clinging to the trees Cool Finley exclaimed It’s like a big butterfly blanket Ms Bird turned the projector off and the lights on We’ll spend some more time looking at monarchs But now for something almost as exciting She paused and gave the class a mysterious look What Finley and Olivia said together Monarchs are experts at transformation Ms Bird said walking to the front of the room They change from eggs to caterpillars to chrysalises to butterflies She turned to face the class That reminds me there’s a holiday coming up where we can transform ourselves into something new as well Halloween the class shouted Ms Bird grinned You got it On Friday we’ll participate in the annual fourth-grade
