Format
1. Using images and videos, we introduce three different types of bees (honeybees, bumblebees, and solitary bees) and example foods they pollinate.
2. Students are guided through an activity worksheet to identify bee-pollinated foods they consume.
3. Students are asked by an entomologist to collect and analyze bee population samples, and are guided through a population count activity.
4. After discovering that bee populations are declining, we discuss national initiatives and local citizen science efforts to support bees and other pollinators' habitat to empower students to get involved.
Objectives
GOAL(S):
1. Students will understand the importance of pollinators and the connection they have to plant and human survival.
2. Students will discover steps they can take to support the conservation of plants and pollinators.
OBJECTIVES:
•(I THINK) I can understand the importance of bee pollinators and what they need to survive.
•(I FEEL) I can appreciate the work that bees do as pollinators.
•(I DO) I can take steps to support the study of bee populations and the survival of native pollinators at home and school.
Standards Alignment
National Standards
Next Generation Science Standards:
3rd Grade
•3-LS2-1. Construct an argument that some animals form groups that help members survive.
•3-LS3-2. Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment.
•3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
4th Grade
•4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction.
5th Grade
•5-LS2-1. Develop a model to describe the movement of matter among plants, animals, decomposers, and the environment.
•5-ESS3-1. Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
6th Grade
•MS-LS1-4. Use argument based on empirical evidence and scientific reasoning to support an explanation for how characteristic animal behaviors and specialized plant structures affect the probability of successful reproduction of animals and plants respectively.
•MS-LS2-1. Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
•MS-LS2-4. Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
State Standards
Colorado Science Curriculum Standards
3rd Grade
•SC09-GR.3-S.2-GLE.3 – The duration and timing of life cycle events such as reproduction and longevity vary across organisms and species.
4th Grade
•SC09-GR.4-S.2-GLE.4 - All living things share similar characteristics, but they also have differences that can be described and classified.
5th Grade
•SC09-GR.5-S.2-GLE.5 - All organisms have structures and systems with separate functions.
6th Grade
•SC09-GR.6-S.2-GLE.6 - Changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms, populations, and entire species.