Flap or Glide?
A biologist named Dr. David Gibo studies monarch butterfly flight. In one experiment, he wanted to find out how much ________ monarchs use during different types of flight. He compared the energy a monarch burns during flapping flight and soaring/gliding flight.
A Full Tank of Fuel
Dr. Gibo's monarchs started with ________ mg of stored fat. He measured how long the monarch could fly with this amount of fuel.
Flight Study Results
A monarch with 140 mg of fat could fly for: |
| Type of Flight |
Time Can Fly |
| Flapping
Flight |
44
hours |
Soaring/Gliding Flight |
1,060 hours |
Flapping Flight
Flapping flight is hard work. When a monarch flaps its wings it burns its fuel quickly. The experimental monarchs ran out of fuel after ________ hours of flight.
Soaring/Gliding Flight
When monarchs flew without flapping they could travel ________ hours on that single tank of fuel. Soaring/gliding flight is very efficient. Monarchs can travel over ________ times longer on the same amount of fuel.
Wind and Migration
Dr. Gibo's study confirms why the ________ is such an important factor during migration. Monarchs can save energy by traveling when the winds are favorable.
"The direction and strength of the ________ largely determine the progress of the migration," says monarch biologist Dr. Bill Calvert.
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