All Science Fair Projects

Monarch butterfly migration

Every year just before winter, millions of Monarch butterflies travel from the Canadian border to the mountaineous jungles of Mexico to avoid the cold weather in the north. After spending the winter in Mexico, these butterflies will start their journey back up north in spring. Along the way, they will stop over at milkweed fields to lay eggs. When these eggs hatch, the next generation of butterflies will continue their journey back north to the Canadian border.

Recently global warming has caused temperatures world wide to increase. Computer simulations show that over the next 50 years, more rainfall is expected in the Monarch butterflies’ resting ground in Mexico. The increased rainfall and continuous cold weather will cause crystals to form on the butterflies’ wings and eventually lead to the annihilation of a large percentage of the butterfly population. This is what happened in January of 2002, when almost 80% of the Monarch butterflies died in Mexico.