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This fall, fourth-graders in Barbara Brewer’s class caught caterpillars and watched them transform into monarch butterflies.
This winter, they’ll be learning how the same process unfolds – in space.
Brewer’s Huntertown elementary students are one of 425 classes in the country chosen to participate in a NASA research project examining how zero gravity affects monarch metamorphosis. Starting in November, scientists on the International Space Station began raising three butterflies. At the same time, Brewer’s class brought their own caterpillars into the classrooms.
Every few days, the students log on the Internet and compare what’s happening to the butterflies on the space station with what’s happening with their own insects. Last week, several space station butterflies were emerging from their cocoons, but the butterflies in Brewer’s class had yet to break out.
Students are still waiting to see whether the space station butterflies learn to fly. So far, they’ve been surprised to learn that zero gravity makes it hard for the winged insects to leave their cocoons.
Brewer’s students are also making Venn diagrams and writing stories about the butterflies. Hayden Jones, 9, wrote a story called “Dancing Monarchs,” in which the insects danced to Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance.” Logon Johnson, 10, wrote a story featuring aliens, spaceships and Darth Vader.
“My friends were monarchs,” he said. “And my friend Derek, he was the smart one, and he said if we keep going along this route (on the spaceship) we’re going to hit the moon.”
To watch the butterflies on the space station, see: monarchwatch.org/space
•Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne students in a business policy and strategy class had the highest score for overall performance in The Business Strategy Game, an online competition.
•The following Heritage Junior-Senior High School FFA members received a $6,000 scholarship to Ohio Technical College for their performance in the state Agricultural Mechanics career development event: Jordan Riley, David Berning, Richie Taylor, and Lizzie Rohlf. The FFA had two other people competing in the career development event: Kari Hammond and Dan Gibson, who each received a $1,500 scholarship to Ohio Technical College.
•East Allen County Schools is seeking applicants for its second annual Community Leadership Academy. The academy is designed for a diverse group of individuals within the district to gain a clearer understanding and become more knowledgeable about the inner workings of the corporation. The academy will begin Feb. 3 and end March 17.
The seven-week, two-hour-a-week program will be at the EACS Administration Building, 1240 Indiana 930 East, New Haven. The sessions will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each week. No more than 20 people will be accepted.
For more information or to receive an application, contact Tamyra Kelly, public relations liaison at 446-0100, ext. 1050, or tkelly@eacs.k12.in.us.
