Butterflies help students understand nature
These days, with the cool weather and lingering ice piles, you barely know it's there.
But come spring, the Butterfly Garden between Chesak and Martin elementary schools in Huntley School District 158 will emerge with new plant and animal life -- and a new designation that will make sure everyone can see how special it is.
The National Wildlife Federation recently designated the Butterfly Garden, on the district's Reed Road campus in Lake in the Hills, a Certified Wildlife Habitat.
The designation means that the garden meets four basic needs of wildlife: food, water, cover and a place for the species in the garden to raise their young, said parent Bill Heiden, who helps maintain the garden as part of the Chesak-Martin PTA.
The garden is now one of more than 2,800 certified wildlife habitats at schools throughout the country.
The PTA created the garden in 2001 with the help of students and since then has maintained the garden, adding onto it each year with the help of donations from various local groups.
The Butterfly Garden takes the shape of butterfly wings, with wildflowers and prairie plants filling out the colorful wings, and local critters flitting throughout during the warmer weather.
Since it first blossomed, the garden has served as an educational tool for students at the two elementary schools, as well for the community.
The garden is a place anyone can visit and get a glimpse of what life used to be like in Illinois. It serves a reminder of the past, since less than one-tenth of 1 percent of Illinois prairies still exist, Heiden said.
Students at both of the Huntley elementary schools use the garden during the warmer months as part of their learning experience.
Brenda Kunde, a fourth-grade teacher at Martin, said she uses the garden for her science lessons. During the fall and spring when the students are studying animal habitats in science, she brings them out to the garden.
Having the Butterfly Garden on site is a great benefit to the students, agreed Lonni Oldham, also a teacher at Martin, who has explored the wildlife area with her students.
"We can't appreciate what we don't know," Oldham said. "Getting kids out into natural environments makes them truly aware. They see firsthand and begin to really understand ecosystems, interdependence, biodiversity and the importance of every living thing.
"Our garden has native plants such as Big Bluestem (grass) and the compass plant. If you can recognize them and know a little about them, you give them importance. They are not just some more green things," Oldham explained.
"Real environmental experiences build knowledge. Knowledge leads to appreciation and concern. The final product is individuals who are more likely to make globally responsible decisions about the environment," she added.
Some of the other plants and grasses students can find in the garden are the Wild Prairie Rose and even such rare species as Prairie Iris.
They also can get a glimpse of various animals, including butterflies, praying mantis, toads, frogs, migratory and seasonal songbirds and various insects.
Some of those critters were part of the life cycle unit for first-grade students at Chesak last year, teacher Pamela Swanson said.
"Last year all first-grade classrooms received butterfly larvae courtesy of our PTA," Swanson said.
"After the students observed and documented the metamorphosis from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly, the children released the butterflies into the Butterfly Garden. Releasing the butterflies into our own garden on campus is so exciting for the students, and a fitting close to our unit on butterfly life cycles."
Heiden said he hopes the new designation will spur even more interest in the garden among students and community members, and will increase learning opportunities for students.
"With this new certification as a (Certified) Wildlife Habitat, the students will learn about the needs of our wildlife and the importance of providing areas in the midst of new development for animals to thrive," Heiden said.