The monarch eggs are ready to hatch shortly after arriving in the classroom. In each egg, a mature embryo chews a hole in the translucent eggshell. After hatching, the small larvae are separated and immediately provided with fresh milkweed. With these events and observations, students begin to generate questions about monarchs, an activity that continues throughout the unit.

Students' questions are later addressed through observations, data collection, and data representation. For some questions, students propose investigations that can be carried out in the classroom. They reflect on the types of questions that are generated.

Children's questions deal with growth, development, behavior, life cycle, population, and migration. Here are a few examples, and links to related lessons.:

• How big can they get? ( measure , growth rate )

• How do caterpillars form their chrysalis? ( external anatomy )

• Where does the caterpillar get their web from? ( external anatomy )

• How many kinds of milkweed do monarchs eat? ( behavior )

• Do monarchs have a reasonable population? ( life history , population )

• How long is a monarch's flight (to the south)? ( life history , behavior )

While raising and studying monarchs, students generate questions that can be addressed in different ways. Students can evaluate their own questions to decide how best to learn more about different aspects of monarch biology.

• Some questions are answered through the students' later observations. For example, "Which end is their head?" and "Are they all the same color?"

• Other questions provide students with an opportunity to design a study to learn, for example, "About how much does the caterpillar eat each day?" or "Do caterpillars have growth spurts, or do they grow at a regular pace?"

• Some questions are investigated through reading texts, as they concern parts of the life history that students cannot observe directly or investigate in the classroom. Examples include: "Do monarchs come directly from Mexico to Wisconsin?" and "How many generations are there?"

Children's thinking during lessons

Students readily generate questions about monarchs while observing the life stages. It is helpful to compile their questions publicly because students use them to guide observations and later research.

This student journal entry shows a scale drawing of the larva early in the life cycle. It included questions about monarchs.