 Ryan Lauer, 8, carries a flock of butterflies that he had counted and readied for "flight."The Twin Cities has become the staging ground for more than 40,000 butterflies winging their way to Mexico. Created by schoolchildren from the United States and Canada, the handmade paper butterflies are part of an educational project monitoring the migration of monarch butterflies and other species. The science education project is being coordinated by Journey North, a Minneapolis-based non-profit organization, using the Internet. About 50,000 children from across North America helped track migration through the program, according to Elizabeth Donnelly, Journey North director. The children made the paper butterflies and sent them to Journey North, which sent them to the Children's Museum of Mexico City. There, children will keep them for the winter and then attach a message and send them back to their creators when the real monarchs head north. Last week, third-graders from Rondo School in St. Paul helped prepare the butterflies for their trip to Mexico. The Journey North site is at http://www.learner.org/k12 -Darlene Pfister | 
Tait Hogland, 9, above, reads the message on a butterfly as he and others from Rondo school prepare for the butterflies' "migration" to Mexico City. |
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At left, Austin Lee and Kao Song Yang, both 8, look over butterflies headed for Mexico, where the real monarchs also spend the winter. The paper butterfly migration symbolizes a partnership among children from Canada, the United Stated and Mexico.Staff Photos |
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