With a goal of educating students about the importance of the monarch butterfly. The Knox Co. SWCD staff have participated in a Monarch Butterfly field trip for 5th Grade classes in the South Knox School system for about 5 years. The field trip initiated through Vincennes University Biology Professor and Knox County SWCD Supervisor Curt Coffman who heads up the yearly trip, the Knox County SWCD assists Curt with the field trips. The field trip is split into two days to accommodate approximately 100 students total. The students arrive at a hay field so that they can explore the butterfly's hands on, catching the monarch's with nets, sexing them, tagging them and taking parasite samples. The parasite samples collected are then sent to the University of Georgia for research in the "Monarch Health Program" , and the tag numbers and sex of each butterfly identified are sent to the University of Kansas for the "Monarch Watch" program research. This field trip involves elementary school students in real life university research that goes far beyond that of learning about the fascinating migration of the monarch through books alone. They also discover the importance of pollinator habitat in the fall and the role of milkweed during spring larvae stage.
The plight of the monarch butterfly may be in jeopardy for now but with this field day presented to a new group of fifth graders each year, their future is brighter because of what the Knox County Soil and Water Conservation District is doing and supporting. Having a Biologist as a Board Member for the SWCD provides the District with a better connection to the scientific world. The ability to collaborate with the Universities of Georgia and Kansas provided an opportunity for these students to support a world wide issue. Connecting students with this project offers an even more meaningful experience to everyone involved because of how important pollinators are to our world and future generations. For many of the kids, this field day for the first time focuses on an ecosystem and how it is connected to us. Knox Co. Specialty crops are a high value crop, the ability of pollinators to pollinate are directly tied to the production capabilities. The value of pollinator habitat, the role and importance of milkweeds and the ability for native beneficial insects to thrive and pollinate efficiently and effectively is a paramount need to Knox County's economy. Teaching on the importance of pollinators and their habitat at an early age is going to be the key to the successful future of not only the Monarch Butterflies but to all of our pollinators and the food that they pollinate to sustain us.