Establishing butterfly transects
In this activity, students set up and walk a transect to observe and record butterfly sightings. They act as citizen scientists to monitor changes in the local environment.
Modify this activity to suit to your management needs. If parent help is available, the entire class can set up and monitor several transects. Alternatively, set up a single transect with an envirogroup or other small group of interested students.
The activity supports visual literacy and numeracy programmes. It also supports local curriculum. Butterflies react very quickly to changes in their environment, which makes them excellent biodiversity indicators.
New Zealand butterfly families – slideshow
Most of New Zealand's butterflies belong to the Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae families.
Use the Slideshow menu for further options, including view full screen, and go here for the download option.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
know what a transect is and why they are used for ecological monitoring
appreciate the importance of systematic observation (the act of noting and recording something) rather than merely looking
understand that collection of data over a number of years provides scientists with information about a species’ population size and provides information on population decline or increase
appreciate that citizen scientists work in partnership with scientists to answer interesting and relevant questions.
Download the Word file (see link below) for:
introduction/background notes
instructions on what you need and what to do
discussion questions
student handout.
Nature of science
Scientific investigations involve the collection of relevant data in a systematic manner according to clear protocols. In this activity, the transect data is used to answer questions about yearly population assessments and habitat management.
Related content
Investigating butterflies – an introduction curates many of our butterfly resources.
The Hub features other citizen science projects:
The Pieris Project – an international project working on DNA profiling white butterflies to determine their ancestry and origin.
Ahi Pepe MothNet – a Participatory Science Platform initiative that investigates the distribution and ecology of our native and introduced moth species.
Big Butterfly Count – this project, run by the Moths and Butterflies of New Zealand Trust (MBNZT), collects data about butterflies in our gardens, schools, parks and farms – any location in the country or on the outer islands. This is usually held over one weekend in February.
The topic Butterflies and moths has links to Hub articles, activities, media and professional development related to Lepidoptera in Aotearoa. Use the filters to narrow your search.
