Monarch Numbers and Compass: teacher key

Butterflies, grade 9 edition, written for 9th grade. Read about the monarch count, its legal status, and the clocks and compasses that steer it.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

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 6 million
- About 62 million (answer)
- About 620 million
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 was proved right
- It is not the whole story (answer)
- It only applies to queens
In December 2024, what did the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service propose for the monarch?
- To list it as extinct
- To remove all protection
- To list it as threatened (answer)
What does polarized light mean here: 'polarized light, a pattern in skylight that people cannot see'?
- A kind of flower
- A sound in the air
- A pattern in skylight (answer)
Why do Blue Morpho scales reflect blue light so strongly?
- Their ridges are stacks of thin layers (answer)
- They are full of blue dye
- They glow in the dark