Natalie and Callie, both 13 years old, started raising monarch butterflies for fun in 2020.
But after realizing the monarchs were an endangered species, their 1 soon turned into a serious mission.
They learned that the population of monarch butterflies had 2 since the early 1990s, due to habitat 3 and widespread use of chemicals, which made the milkweeds (马利筋草)that the monarchs 4 for their main diet dangerous to eat.
So the girls teamed up with a national nonprofit group to plant a native garden 5 for the monarchs. The garden grew organic milkweeds that 6 and kept the butterflies. To help 7 the locals to sustain the monarch population, they created an exhibition about the monarchs in the local library. They also wanted to put up an educational sign in town, but it 8 a lot. To cover the expense, they set up a stand at the Farmers Market to sell their healthy milkweeds for people to 9 . Although the fund-raising days were 10 , they finally succeeded in earning enough money with their hard work and people's support.
The team has won the Silver Award for their 11 of taking care of butterflies, but they are not 12 with their work. "Our next step is to cut down on the use of 13 to guarantee a safe environment for the monarchs," said Natalie. In the award ceremony, their teacher Brian 14 , "I am so proud of them for their constant 15 ."
