The Vietnamese Monarch Butterfly team took some field trips for its research. We went to the Bronx Zoo (The Wildlife Conservation Society) and visited the butterfly exhibit. The zoo has a program to protect the butterfly as part of its community outreach. While we were there we met with specialists and even wore butterfly masks and took a ride on the bug carousel.
| Broadway and Planet Hollywood and our Workshop |
In our Broadway and Planet Hollywood section we were joined (all the way from California!) by researcher and specialist Bonita Coleman. The first picture in the group shows Ms. Coleman with the butterfly team in front of a Broadway theater while we are waiting to see the play, "Beauty and the Beast". Ms. Coleman joined for for a workshop with actors from broadwayclassroom.com where we, as social butterflies for the day, learned about acting and what it's like to be part of a Broadway show. Ms. Coleman (on the left) even took a photograph with one of the actors, Ana, (on the right with the green sweater) from the show. No self respecting social butterfly would be without a visit to the famous restaurant "Planet Hollywood" and so Ms. Coleman, the class, and the butterfly team had a spectacular "out of this world" lunch. The food and atmosphere were terrific.
| Butterfly Party with California |
Before Bonita Coleman came to New York to visit us, we met her in California through a videoconference. We connected with the Christian Valley Elementary School (and Ms. Pam Leestma's class) to learn about the Vietnamese butterfly. Ms. Coleman told us about her travels and explained about the Vietnamese culture. No meeting, in person or virtual, is complete withou a meal, and so we had a coast to coast party. We ate Vietnamese food during our videoconference with Ms. Coleman and California, while they ate Vietnamese food in California at the same time. We dressed up as monarch butterflies, met with the California students (also dressed as butterflies), ate noodles (shown in the photo), and listened to Ms. Coleman's stories of her research.
| Bonita Coleman Video Conference |
While Bonita Coleman was in Vietnam we used Skype to talk to her live from the forest. We connected using a microphone and the Internet, and spoke to her live from Vietnam. The butterfly team is shown in front of our class microphone connecting to Vietnam with Ms. Coleman. That was truly exciting!
Museum Of Natural History |
