“But What About the Butterflies?”: Empowering Children to Address Climate Change . . . One Caterpillar at a Time
You are here
Editors’ Note: As outlined by Victoria Carr and colleagues in “Connection, Curiosity, and Care: An E-STEM Approach to Climate Change Education in Early Childhood,” authentic experiences in nature spark children’s curiosity to learn about and care for the environment. In the following practitioner reflection, Rina Zampieron and Jennifer Fuller build upon these ideas. Preschoolers’ discovery of caterpillars on their school grounds sparked an investigation of Monarch butterflies, which led to children’s questions about why the Monarch population is declining. The authors share how conversations and inquiry-based work rooted in the local environment extended children’s knowledge about invasive species, one of the effects of climate change.
On a warm September day while our class plays outside, my coteacher notices two monarch caterpillars. We decide to take this opportunity to raise them with our class for the purpose of tagging and releasing them for their fall migration to Mexico. Over four weeks, children make observational drawings, engage in creative writing, act out the life cycle of the butterflies, and look at migration maps.
Soon, we have two healthy monarch butterflies to release. We place small, numbered tags on the butterflies’ wings so that scientists can study their migration habits. If our butterflies are observed along the way or at their destination, our numbered tag will tell researchers where they came from!
Already a NAEYC Member? Log into your NAEYC Membership Portal to read the full article!
Not a member yet? Join now to read the full article!
Rina Zampieron is the early education program manager for Mass Audubon and lives in Windham, New Hampshire. She uses her experiences as a teacher in a nature-based preschool to work with early educators across the state and beyond to build the capacity and comfort for teaching young children about nature.
Jennifer Feller is Mass Audubon’s statewide director of pre-kindergarten–grade 12 programs, overseeing school and youth climate programs for more than 50,000 students a year across Massachusetts. Jennifer has more than 35 years of experience teaching and leading outdoor, environmental, and K–12 science education programs. She has spent recent years focused on integrating climate change into the educational landscape.