Girl Scouts of Palm Glades Council, Inc.
Patch Project Requirements
Butterflies
Butterflies was developed
by Port St Lucie Junior Troop 331, to help reestablish butterfly populations
devastated during the hurricanes of 2004.
> Brownies complete at least four requirements,
including #4
> Juniors complete at least six requirements, including #1, #3, and
#4
- Butterfly
Garden – Design, plant and maintain a Butterfly Garden to attract
butterflies. You could ask to plant it at school, at church, at a nursing
home or even for your community. Check with your local garden center or
online for guidance on what to plant. Some ideas are Milkweed, Passion
vine, Cassias, and White vine. Some other nectar flowers are Mexican Flame,
Pagoda Flower and Pentas. Flowers will produce nectar and plants can host
space for egg laying. You could also place a nectar feeder in your garden.
Milkweed seeds are available from Amazing Butterflies – Seed
Promotion, 3003-C8 Yamato Road #1015 , Boca Raton , FL 33434 , 1-800-808-6276, www.amazingbutterflies.com Send
a self addressed stamped envelope with your $2. donation for the seeds.
Be sure to request growing instructions too.
- Color and Label a Butterfly . Draw and color
a butterfly native to Florida. Examples are the Monarch, Zebra Long wing,
Queen, Julia, Giant Swallowtail, or the endangered Miami Blue. Check
the beautiful Florida Butterflies Field Guide available at the council shop,
a field guide you may have at home, the library, or the internet. Label
the parts of the butterfly. Are all butterfly bodies the same?
- Monarch Migration . Every
year millions of Monarch butterflies fly up to 2200 miles to their wintering
grounds in Mexico . Environmental problems throughout the Monarch’s
vast range have turned this wondrous passage into an endangered biological
phenomenon. Find out about the migration of the Monarch! Some good web sites
are: www.nhptv.org (type
monarch migration in the search box – choose #1) and http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2000/11/1122_
monarchs.html You will find many other web sites as well as books
and field guides about the event at the library. Try “Google.com” and
type in butterflies!
- Life Cycle Study . Find out about the life
cycle of the butterfly. Starting with the courtship, mating, egg laying,
caterpillar stage, pupae stage and finally their emergence as a beautiful
butterfly! Use the internet, library and/or your own books.
- Colorful Butterfly Wings . Find
out what makes up the color patterns of butterflies’ wings. Use the
Internet, library, and/or your own books.
- Write a Poem or Tell a Story . Junior
girls should write a poem or a story, factual or “make-believe”,
about butterflies. Brownies can tell a story, draw it, or write it, according
to their wishes.
- Butterfly Habitat . Construct a cage for caterpillars.
Remember to supply them with plenty of room to move, appropriate food
and lots air circulation, and remember not to leave your cage in the hot
sun. For help with building a good cage and learning how to set it up, try
the website www.monarchlab.org/rearing/MakingaCage.htm or
the library. Perhaps a girl in the troop has a book at home to consult.
Keep a journal of the changes you see. Release the butterflies when they
emerge.
- Visit a Butterfly Center- Learn about the Scientists
who Work with Butterflies . What is a Lepidopterist? Learn about
what role they play for butterflies. What do you have to do to be a
Lepidopterist? How long does it take? Talk to a Naturalist and learn
what they do for butterflies. How do you learn to be a Naturalist?
Visit a butterfly center and see first hand – their
breathtaking beauty and their whole life cycle.
- Endangered! - Learn the names
of the five endangered Florida Butterflies, and try to find a picture
of each. (The Field Guide at the shop lists them) Do some research
and have a discussion: “What
can we do to help.
Butterfly Resources (in addition to what is
included in the text)
Monarch Migration
www.smm.org/sln/monarchs/top.html
Different Species of Butterflies
USGS – Butterflies of
North America
Butterfly Gardens
www.amnh.org/exhibitions/butterflies/garden.html
Butterfly Centers in Florida
Butterfly World
3600 W Sample
Road
Coconut
Creek, Fl 33073
954-977-4400
www.butterflyworld.com
Butterfly Rainforest
Florida Museum
of Natural History
Cultural Plaza at University of Florida
www.flmnh.ufl.edu/butterflies
Cypress Gardens
6000 Cypress Gardens
Blvd
Winter Haven , Fl 33884
863-324-2111
How to Feed Your Caterpillars and Butterflies
Nectar can be made by combining 4 parts water with I part white sugar. Boil
the solution until the sugar is completely dissolved and then allow to cool.
Store extra solution in the refrigerator for up to a week. Place in a nectar
feeder. Clean feeder and replace solution every day too ensure you steer clear
of bad bacteria.
You can also saturate
a sponge with the solution – but
be sure again, to rinse the sponge thoroughly and replace solution every day.
Butterfly Garden Plants
Host Plants – Malva – a
weed; Thistle –a
weed; Salvia; Milkweed; Mallow; Sunflower; Passion Vine; Ruellia; Parsley;
Plumbago; Anise or Fennel
Nectar Plants – Lantana;
Daisy; Blazing Star; Pentas; Porter weed; Butterfly bush or Buddleia; Petunias;
Cats Whiskers; Passion Vine;
Plus hundreds more – check
one of the websites, the library or garden center.