Please Support Journey North 2000

[Donald Davis]

PLEASE SUPPORT JOURNEY NORTH!

Journey North is a remarkable, Internet-based science program that
allows students to participate in a global study of wildlife migration
and seasonal change.  Over 4500 schools representing more than 250,000
students are expected to participate in the Spring 2000 Journey North
Program. Last year, North American field naturalists and lepidopterists
made a significant contribution to this program by sharing their
sightings and observations.

The journeys of a dozen migratory species are tracked. Students share
their own field observations with classrooms across the Hemisphere. In
addition, students are linked with scientists who provide their
expertise directly to the classroom. Several migrations are tracked by
satellite telemetry, providing live coverage of the individual animals
as they migrate. As the spring seasons weeps across the Hemisphere,
students note changes in daylight, temperature and all living things as
the food chain comes back to life.

Lepidopterists are invited to participate by spreading the word of this
program to local teachers and schools. The web site address is:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth.

You can also support the program by reporting your "first sightings" of
species being studied. You may report these sightings directly to
Journey North via the web site (for quality control reasons, you must
register at the web site) or report your sightings to this writer.
Species being followed this spring include:

Bald Eagle, Earthworm, Frog (first heard), Hummingbird (feeder up, first
sighted), Ice Out, Leaf-Out (any species), Loon, Maple Syrup (first sap
run), Monarch Butterfly , Oriole, Red-winged Blackbird, Robin (first
seen, first heard), Swallow, Tulips(emerged, bloomed)

Sightings must include name of observer, date, place, details of
observation and e-mail address (if  you have one).

Journey North is a free online educational service, supported by the
Annenberg/CPB Math and Science Project. It is supported as a model for
math/science educational reform.

Migrating monarch butterflies are already being reported in southern
Texas and Louisana. We hope you will share your sightings with Journey
North.

Don Davis
Toronto, ON

donald.davis at utoronto.ca