Hi there! Have you ever noticed that some animals disappear when it gets cold and then come back when it’s warm again? This is something that happens a lot with monarch butterflies. In the summer, you can see them flying around in places like the United States and Canada. But when winter comes, they fly away to warmer places like Mexico. This is called migration.
Migration is when animals travel from one place to another and back again. They do this every year. It’s not just monarch butterflies that migrate. Many birds and even some whales do it too! They leave cold places and head to warmer spots to spend the winter.
Now, you might wonder, if it’s warm in places like Mexico all year, why do these animals come back to the colder places? Well, it has a lot to do with food and taking care of their babies.
When monarch butterflies come back to the United States and Canada in the spring, they lay their eggs on a special plant called milkweed. This plant is super important because it’s the only thing that monarch caterpillars eat. If the butterflies didn’t come back to lay their eggs on milkweed, the caterpillars wouldn’t have anything to eat and would starve.
Another example is a bird called the purple martin. These birds spend their winters in warm places like Central and South America. But in the spring, they fly back north because that’s when lots of insects start to appear. Purple martins love to eat insects, so they come back to have plenty of food.
Some animals migrate for other reasons. Take salmon, for example. These fish swim from the ocean up into rivers every year. It’s a tough journey because they have to swim against the current and even jump over waterfalls! They do this to reach calm, shallow pools in the mountains where they lay their eggs. These pools are safer for baby salmon because there are fewer predators and strong currents.
So, even though migrating is hard work and can be dangerous, it’s very important for these animals. It helps them find food and safe places for their babies to grow. That’s why they make these long journeys every year.
Isn’t it amazing how animals know exactly where to go and what to do? There are so many mysteries in nature, and it’s fun to learn about them. Stay curious and keep exploring!
Migration Map Activity: Create a simple map showing the migration paths of monarch butterflies, purple martins, and salmon. Use colored pencils or crayons to draw the paths on a world map. Discuss why each animal chooses its specific route and what challenges they might face along the way. Think about how the weather and seasons affect their journeys.
Observation Journal: Start a nature journal to observe and record any migrating animals you see in your area. Note the date, weather, and any interesting behaviors. If you can’t see any migrating animals, draw pictures of what you imagine their journey looks like. Share your observations with your class or family and discuss why these animals might be migrating at this time.
Role-Playing Game: Pretend to be a migrating animal! Choose to be a monarch butterfly, a purple martin, or a salmon. Create a short play or skit with your friends or family, showing the journey from one place to another. Think about what challenges you might face, like finding food or avoiding predators. Perform your skit and explain why migration is important for your chosen animal.
Sure! Here’s a sanitized version of the transcript:
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(phone ring) – Hi, it’s Doug. If you’re from North America, you probably recognize this: monarchs. We only see them in the warm summer months, though. By winter, they are gone. Someone named Erin has a question about animals that fly to warm places in winter. Let’s give her a call now. (phone ring) – Hi, Doug. – Hi, Erin. – I have a question for you. If animals fly to warm places in winter, why do they come back? – That’s a great question. As it gets close to wintertime, monarch butterflies go south to spend the winter somewhere warm. And it’s not just monarch butterflies that do this. Lots of other animals do too, like many different kinds of birds and even a few types of whales. They swim south, leaving places like Canada and the United States, and head down to warmer places, like Mexico, where it’s nice and warm even during the winter months. Then, in spring, when the weather warms up back north, all of these animals head back again. This whole process of going back and forth once each year is called migration.
But here’s the thing: a warm place like Mexico is actually warm there all year. So, what’s the point of ever going back north? Why not just stay in the places that are warm year-round? Keep in mind, too, it’s a lot of work for an animal to migrate. It’s not like they can hop on an airplane to get there. To go from Canada or the United States to Mexico can be as much as 3,000 miles. Imagine having wings and having to flap them constantly that far. What do you think? Why don’t migrating animals just stay where it’s warm? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss.
Okay, you ready? Well, you can look for clues by noticing what some of these animals do after they get back from their winter trip. For example, when monarch butterflies return to the United States and Canada, they start to lay eggs on the leaves of plants. But not just any plant. They only lay their eggs on the leaves of a plant called milkweed. It turns out, lots of milkweed grows in Canada and the US during summer, and milkweed is the only kind of plant that monarch caterpillars will eat. If monarch butterflies don’t lay their eggs on milkweed, then when the caterpillars hatch, they’ll actually starve. So, you see, monarch butterflies come back north because their caterpillars need a certain kind of plant that grows in the north.
Or here’s another good example. This bird is called a purple martin. It spends its winter down in the warm countries of Central and South America. But then, in the springtime, it flies back north each year, just in time for when lots of insects start to hatch. Purple martins love to eat flies and other insects. If the birds had stayed down in Central and South America, they’d miss out on all that food. So you see, one reason animals don’t stay in warm places has to do with finding certain kinds of food that they need.
But these aren’t the only reasons that some animals migrate. Check out this video. It’s hard to believe what you’re seeing, but those are fish literally swimming across a road to get to the other side. It’s a flooded road. These fish are called salmon, and they do this every year. Salmon spend their adult lives out in the ocean. But every year, they migrate—not south to stay warm, but instead, inland up into rivers. They actually have to wiggle their bodies constantly in order to swim upstream. It’s incredibly hard work. They’re so determined that they swim so hard, they’ll even jump up over waterfalls if they need to. Why would they work so hard just to migrate up a river? Well, their goal is to reach calm, shallow pools of water high up in the mountains, where they lay their eggs. It turns out, when baby salmon hatch in these shallow pools, they’re much less likely to get washed away or eaten by predators than if the eggs had been laid in the ocean.
So, in summary, lots of animals travel long distances back and forth once each year. It’s what we call migration. Even though migration is a lot of hard work and can even be dangerous for the animals that do it, it’s worth it to them in order to meet their needs or the needs of their babies. That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Erin, for asking it. Now, for the next episode, I reached into my question jar and found three questions submitted to me that I’m thinking about answering. When this video is done playing, you’ll get to vote on one. You can choose from, “Is Earth the only planet with life?”, “What would happen if the Earth stopped spinning?”, or “Why does Earth seem flat if it’s really round?” So submit your vote when the video is over. I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious and see you next week.
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