Did you know, out of the 700 species of butterflies that live in North America, 74 reside in the Adirondack Park!
Butterflies are more than just elegant, colorful flying insects. As powerhouse pollinators, they are part of several fascinating families, each with their own unique characteristics – like wide, scaly, fragile wings and long proboscis to lap up nectar. And while the colors and patterns on butterflies’ wings are easy to marvel at, these beautiful adaptations have a job too. They help butterflies blend into their surroundings to avoid predators or even attract a mate. Undergoing the fascinating process of metamorphosis, changing from tiny caterpillars to brilliant butterflies, these insects often have a lifespan of only a few weeks to months. Because of this and other factors, adult butterflies are excellent bioindicators, helping alert humans to issues in the environment and giving us insight into the health of our local ecosystems.
Learning about butterflies is a great opportunity to discuss a variety of scientific topics with young children, like the life cycles of animals. For older kids, exploring just how integral these insects are to our global ecosystems is a great way to make real-world connections.
Discover the unique adaptations, habits, and environmental impact of butterflies with the classroom-ready resources, videos, and activities featured below. Then check out a list of local and national ecological organizations for opportunities to be a citizen scientist in your own community!
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Learn About Butterflies
Where Have All the Butterflies Gone? | Nature Cat
Grades K-2
Oh no! A long-awaited play date with Daisy’s butterfly friends is at risk because there are no flowers around for the butterflies to feed on. When all seems lost, Nature Cat steps up to save the day. He and his pals decide to build a new butterfly garden before the butterflies have to fly off.
Monarch Butterfly Defense | Kratts Creatures
Grades K-5
Join the Kratt brothers and learn how the natural eating habits and appearance of monarch butterflies serve as defense mechanisms against predators and help other butterflies to survive! Viewers learn that, as caterpillars, Monarchs eat milkweed, which can be poisonous to other animals. You will also learn that the viceroy butterfly mimic the monarch and, as a result, predators stay away from them!
Butterflies and Climate Change | The Arizona Collection
Grades 3-8
Butterflies are essential pollinators in our ecosystem and their existence is now being challenged by climate change. Entomologists at the University of Arizona have enlisted citizen scientists to track migrations and to better understand how butterflies and other pollinators react to environmental changes.
Migration of the Monarch
Grades 6-12
It is one of the most impressive displays of migratorial instinct and ability in the animal kingdom: Each year millions of monarch butterflies migrate from eastern Canada and the United States to Mexico — a journey of more than two thousand miles for some. This video segment from NOVA: The Mystery of Animal Pathfinders explores why monarchs make such an epic journey and how they manage to do it.
Mimicking Butterfly Nanostructures to Improve Solar Cells | Butterfly Blueprints
Grades 6-12
Learn how microscopic features of butterfly wings can serve as models for new materials with practical applications, in this video from NOVA: Butterfly Blueprints. Use this resource to illustrate how nature can inspire technology and how nanostructures determine a material’s properties.
Activities, Games & More
Butterfly Hide-and-Seek
Grades PreK-K
Help the butterfly hide from hungry predators in this fun hide and seek game.
Butterfly Garden Party Lesson Plan | Pinkalicious and Petterific
Grades PreK-2
In this lesson, students learn about butterflies—the beautiful symmetrical patterns in their wings, how they search for food and eat, and the ways in which their wings help them to survive in the wild.
Act Out the Life Cycle of a Butterfly
Grades PreK-3
Help your child learn about the stages of metamorphosis!
Make a Butterfly Costume
Grades K-3
Is your child curious about butterflies? In this activity, explore the different parts of a butterfly with your child and then make a costume so that they can pretend to be the insect!
Butterflies | Outdoor Nevada
Grades 3-5
In this video, host John Burke chases the Spring Mountain dark blue butterfly in Nevada, an insect that is quickly becoming extinct. Using the activity in the support materials, students will be able to demonstrate how natural selection occurs through either visual representation or oral presentation.
Ecological & Conservation Organizations
AdkAction
AdkAction’s mission is to create innovative projects that address unmet needs, promote vibrant communities, and preserve the natural beauty of the Adirondacks for all. Get involved with some of their active programs like the Adirondack Pollinator Project, which helps promote the health of pollinators in our ecosystem and provides resources to become a pollinator advocate.
Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center
The Paul Smith’s College Visitor Interpretive Center is dedicated to fostering connections with nature for students, local residents, and regional visitors by providing outdoor recreation opportunities, experiential education programs, and year-round art exhibitions. Discover their Breck Chapin Memorial Native Species Butterfly House to learn more about these colorful insects and explore the PSC VIC trails – open year round!
North American Butterfly Association
The North American Butterfly Association (NABA) is dedicated to the conservation of wild butterflies and their habitats. NABA was formed in order to promote awareness of butterfly conservation and the benefits of butterfly gardening, observation, photography and education.