Overview
In this three-part series of lessons, students engage in active learning strategies to understand the role of bees in pollinating our food plants, why diversity of pollinators matters, and how to distinguish among some common bee pollinators. Each lesson is aligned with the Missouri Science Learning Standards 6-8 Grade Level Expectations and the North American Association for Environmental Education Guidelines for Excellence Grades 5-8. While designed to be used together, these lessons can use separately with minimal modification.
Lesson 1: To Bee or Not to Bee
This lesson consists of two related activities. During the first, Pollinator Buffet, students construct a meal by selecting among ingredients. They then use a key to figure out which ingredients require pollination and which bees pollinate them. During the second activity, Build a Bee, students work in teams to construct a bee and two insects that are often confused for bees: flies and wasps. In doing so, they compare and contrast the attributes of the three groups.
Lesson 2: Pollen Palooza
This interactive pollination game involves students in modeling the unique relationship between bees and plants while illustrating how sensitive and important those relationships are. Students simulate one of three different bee species throughout the activity, each with different needs and abilities. Students have to quickly visit flowers, competing for the available pollen and nectar resources before they are depleted, to survive. Flower pollination determines plant survival as well. Graphing results of each round of the activity allows for visualization of the impact of different scenarios on bee and plant populations.
Lesson 3: Which bee is THAT?
This lesson consists of two related activities. During the first, students conduct scientific photographic surveys of bees similar to those conducted by citizen scientists as part of Shutterbee. In the second, students use a decision tree to identify the bees in their photographs and learn unique life history traits of those groups.
Lesson Materials
SHUTTERBEE 