PETERSBURG, West Virginia—Most young children will jump at the chance to help solve a puzzle. That's why kindergarten teacher Julia Colaw sets the stage for an ambitious learning project by telling her students at Petersburg Elementary that a friend of hers needs their help to solve a pesky problem. "It seems that caterpillars are taking over a friend's beautiful flower garden. She is concerned they will eat all of her flowers. What should she do?"

The children agree to help. Colaw brings in samples of the hungry caterpillars for students to see, and the children set out to identify the culprits. Using books and Web sites, they identify the garden visitors as monarch caterpillar larva. Working in teams, students make observations about the caterpillars and identify their needs for food and shelter. "Each group is responsible for caring for the caterpillars and documenting their growth by measuring the larva and taking digital pictures," Colaw explains. As the insects progress through their life cycle stages, students learn to use scientific inquiry to answer questions about what's happening right before their eyes.

While students are getting up to speed on the habits and lifespan of the monarch, they don't lose sight of that original question: What should their teacher's friend do about that caterpillar situation in her flower garden? Student teams develop insect control plans, grounded in biology, then prepare convincing presentations that summarize their sage advice.

With the garden problem solved, students next shift their focus to the monarch's winter migration. Monarchs travel thousands of miles from their summer habitats in North America to their winter sanctuaries in the high mountains west of Mexico City. A Web site called Journey North* (www.learner.org/jnorth/)* enlists students from the United States, Canada, and Mexico to help track the seasonal migrations.

To integrate language arts into her students' study of science, Colaw has her students participate in what she calls "a symbolic monarch migration," using the Web site to connect with children tracking the butterflies from Mexico. As the teacher explains, "Students make paper butterflies and send them along with a message of friendship and conservation to students in Mexico." A parent volunteer who speaks Spanish helps the kindergartners write their messages. That ties in well with winter classroom activities "that promote cultural awareness and interest," Colaw says, along with teaching Spanish language skills to a classroom of native English speakers.

The integrated project also offers ways to introduce the use of computers. Using e-mail, the West Virginia kindergartners exchange messages with the children in Mexico who receive their paper butterflies. Petersburg Elementary has a 30-station Internet lab and another mobile lab with 24 laptops. For most of these rural students, school offers their only access to computers. Says Colaw, "By using technology, I provide my students with opportunities to make connections with students in Canada, Mexico, and across the United States. Some of my students have never been outside our small rural community."

But that's not the end of the project. In the spring, when living monarchs begin fluttering back to North America, the children's paper butterflies return to West Virginia via the mail. Mexican students send along their own messages, written in Spanish. The local high school is right next door to Petersburg Elementary, so high school students visit the kindergarten class to translate the messages from Spanish to English.

The long-term learning adventure engages young students' interest in science, language, geography, and technology. Colaw recalls one girl who was particularly inquisitive when the caterpillars first arrived in class. "When the first caterpillar changed into a chrysalis, she became very quiet and quit asking questions. She refused to talk to me and wouldn't participate with the other students in any activities. During recess time," the teacher recalls, "I asked her what was wrong, with no response. I told her I was going to have to call her mother when she blurted out, 'How am I supposed to change into a butterfly when you keep interrupting my chrysalis stage?'"