What Carries On: teacher key

Butterflies, grade 11 edition, written for 11th grade. Read about what carries on through the chrysalis, how monarchs steer, and how their numbers stand.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. As of November 2026, using the estimate of 21 million butterflies a hectare, about how many butterflies covered the 2.93 hectares of winter 2025-26?
   • About 62 million (answer)
   • About 6 million
   • About 620 million
2. A study found that viceroys in northern Florida have become bad-tasting too. What does this suggest about the old idea that the viceroy is only a harmless copy?
   • It is not the whole story (answer)
   • It was proved right
   • It only applies to queens
3. What did adult moths remember in experiments with shocked caterpillars?
   • The color of the leaf
   • The smell linked to the shock (answer)
   • The sound of rain
4. What does inherited mean in 'a monarch's sense of direction is inherited, not learned'?
   • Learned on earlier trips
   • Taught by older monarchs
   • Passed down, not taught by experience (answer)
5. Where are the timing clocks that correct the monarch's sun compass?
   • In its antennae, not only in its brain (answer)
   • In its wings only
   • In its feet

Words

• polarized: lined-up light
• inherited: passed down
• hectares: land areas
• migrant: traveling animal