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Monarchs on the Move worksheet preview

Worksheet

Monarchs on the Move

Read about the long trip of monarch butterflies and use a described map and photos with the text to answer where, when, why and how questions.

Grade 3ELAInteractive · Printable

Aligned toRI.3.7

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What’s included

  • Single worksheet
  • Auto-graded online
  • 1 Common Core standard
  • Printable answer key
  • 10 questions
  • Classroom-ready

Details

Format
Interactive · Printable
Grade
Grade 3
Subject
ELA
Question types
Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Matching, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

  • Students use a map and its labels together with the text to tell where events happen.
  • Students use photographs and captions with the words to explain how and why events happen.
  • Students sort events by when they happen using the text and map.

How to use

Read the article aloud, then talk about what each map or photo adds. Students answer on their own, checking both the words and the pictures.

Curriculum

Common Core standard covered

RI.3.7

Use illustrations such as maps and photographs together with the words to show understanding of where, when, why, and how events happen in a text.

Preview

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Name Date

Monarchs on the Move

Use a map, photos and words to learn where, when and why.

Read and look

Read the article. Then read what the map and each photo show. Pretend you can see them.

Monarchs on the Move

1Monarch butterflies have bright orange wings with black lines and white dots. Many monarchs that live in the eastern United States and Canada make a very long trip each year. Map 1 shows where they go.

2The trip south begins in fall, when the days grow shorter and the air turns cool. The monarchs fly during the day and stop at flowers to sip nectar. They are headed toward warmer weather.

3Why do monarchs travel so far? A cold winter would harm them, and the flowers they sip from would be gone. So they fly to the mountain forests of Mexico. There, they rest in thick clusters on fir trees until spring.

4In spring, the monarchs leave the mountain forests and fly north again. They do not fly all the way back. They stop in the southern United States, where milkweed is growing. There, the females lay eggs on the milkweed leaves. The eggs hatch into caterpillars, which eat the leaves. The new butterflies keep flying north. It takes several generations of monarchs to reach Canada again.

Map 1: The Monarch Trip
A map of North America shows three places labeled from top to bottom: Canada, the United States, and Mexico. A thick arrow labeled "Fall" starts in Canada, curves down through the middle of the United States, and ends at a star in the mountains of central Mexico. The star is labeled "Winter forest." A thin arrow labeled "Spring" starts at the star and points north. It stops in the southern United States.
Photo 1
A close-up photo shows a fat caterpillar with yellow, black and white stripes chewing on the edge of a green leaf.
Caption: A monarch caterpillar eats a milkweed leaf.
Photo 2
A photo of a mountain forest shows hundreds of orange butterflies covering the branches of a fir tree.
Caption: Monarchs rest in thick clusters on fir trees in Mexico.

Where and when

Use the map, the photos and the article to answer each question.

1.
Look at Map 1. Where does the thick arrow end?
  • A. in the middle of the United States
  • B. in the mountains of central Mexico
  • C. in the far north of Canada
  • D. in the southern United States
2.
Use Map 1 and paragraph 3. Write the name of the country where the monarchs spend the winter.

The monarchs spend the winter in  .

3.
When do monarchs fly along the thin arrow on Map 1?
  • A. in summer
  • B. in winter
  • C. in spring
  • D. in fall
4.
The thick arrow is labeled Fall. What is happening to the weather when monarchs start this trip?
  • A. The days get longer and hotter.
  • B. The air turns warm and rainy.
  • C. Snow covers all the milkweed.
  • D. The days get shorter and cooler.
5.
Sort each event by the season when it happens. Use the article and Map 1.
Monarchs begin flying southCaterpillars hatch from the eggsMonarchs fly north from the mountain forestsFemales lay eggs on milkweedThe days grow shorter and cooler
FallSpring

Why and how

Use the pictures and the words together.

6.
Read paragraph 3. Underline the sentence that tells why monarchs must leave the north.

Why do monarchs travel so far?A cold winter would harm them, and the flowers they sip from would be gone.So they fly to the mountain forests of Mexico.There, they rest in thick clusters on fir trees until spring.

7.
Look at the thin arrow on Map 1. Why does it stop in the southern United States instead of reaching Canada?
  • A. They are too cold to fly any farther north.
  • B. They turn around and fly back to Mexico.
  • C. They lay eggs there, and the new ones fly on.
  • D. They are blown off course by strong winds.
8.
Use Photo 1 and paragraph 4. Why do female monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed?
  • A. The caterpillars that hatch eat the leaves.
  • B. The leaves keep the eggs warm in the snow.
  • C. The eggs must stay close to the fir trees.
  • D. The butterflies sip nectar from the leaves.
9.
Match each part of the map or each photo to what it helps you understand.
  1. the thick arrow on Map 1
  2. the thin arrow on Map 1
  3. Photo 1
  4. Photo 2
  1. A. what a monarch caterpillar eats
  2. B. the path monarchs take in spring
  3. C. how monarchs rest in a mountain forest
  4. D. the path monarchs take in fall
10.
Use Map 1 and the article. Explain why monarchs fly south in fall.

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