Herkimer College Supports Monarch Butterfly Project

Students from Benton Hall Academy became the 26th local classroom to participate in the Monarch Butterfly Project on Friday, October 30 in Little Falls, NY. Coordinated by Herkimer College science faculty, the project is designed to assist educators in kindergarten through second grade with the teaching of the life-cycle, a major component of the science curriculum.

The current monarch population is steadily declining. By actively engaging in this project, students are supporting the monarch population and becoming citizen scientists by planting milkweed (the major food source for monarchs), developing pen pal relationships with students in Mexico (the destination of monarch migration) and tagging monarchs as part of a larger study.

Herkimer College Assistant Professor Jessica Kelly stated, “These projects are used to increase student engagement and learning outcomes. This is the second year Benton Hall Academy has participated in the Monarch Butterfly Project. It’s popular with both students and teachers as it goes beyond teaching the life-cycle, a dominate topic in the elementary science curriculum, and encourages the students to become citizen scientists.”