BUSY BEES

Grade Level: Grade 2

DescriptionIn this activity students will learn about the honeybee. They will also learn that honeybees collect pollen and nectar from flowers, pollinating the flowers in the process.

Guiding QuestionWhat is the relationship between honeybees and flowers and how is it beneficial to both?

Big IdeaHoneybees are particularly well suited to pollinate lot of flowers because they live in large colonies of twenty to forty thousand bees in a hive. The life cycle of the honeybees also lends itself to pollination. Worker honeybees are outdoors on any day that is warn and dry. They spend the whole day visiting flowers collect pollen and nectar. They bring the nectar and pollen back to feed the hive. The flowers also benefit from this process. As the honeybee goes into each flower to collect the pollen, some of the pollen brushes off onto its hairy body. Then as the honeybee visits another flower the pollen transfers from the bees body onto the newly visited flower. In the process the flower is pollinated. Some flowers actually have marks inside their petals to direct the bees to the nectar in such a way that pollen will brush onto the body of the bees. Bees see the color yellow and these markings are often yellow. The relationship between the honeybee and the flower is a symbiotic relationship in that the bee benefits by getting pollen and nectar as food. The flower is assisted by the bee when its pollen is carried from one flower to another flower, so that pollination and fertilization will occur and seeds will be produced.

Learning ObjectivesTo understand the anatomy and function of a honeybee and how the honeybee interacts with plants and flowers to the benefit of both.

Materials* Paper* Pencils* Work sheet on honeybees* Dead bees from a local beekeeper, if available.* Cotton swabs* Samples of flowers such as tulips or crocus s

PreparationAssemble materials. If available, locate a local beekeeper and ask for samples of dead bees. Purchase or collect flowers with lots of visible pollen such as tulips, crocus or lilies.

Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

Introducing the LessonActivate prior knowledge: Ask student if they have ever looked closely at a honeybee while it visited a flower. What did it do? Did it climb inside the flower? How did it get inside? Where did it go after it left the flowers? What do they think it was doing inside the flower?

Engage Student Interest: Tell them they are going to investigate honeybees to learn about them and what they do when they visit flowers.

Procedure Total Time approximately forty five minutes.

In the Classroom:Part One1. Give each student a paper and something to write with. Ask them to draw a picture of honey bee. What does it look like? How many body parts does it have? Let them know there are three body parts - the head, thorax and abdomen. They can draw a circle for the thorax leaving white spaces on either side. Next add the head in front and the large oval abdomen behind. 2. Next add the head, eyes and antennae. How many eyes does the bee have, where are they located? How many antennae? Where do they originate on the head?3. How many wings does the honeybee have. What part of the body do they originate on. Suggest that they draw one fore wing and one hind wing on either side of the thorax.4. How many legs do insects have? Is the honeybee and insect. Where would you find the legs on the body. Tell them to draw six legs, three on either side of the thorax.5. Where would they find the stinger? Draw it. (20 minutes.)

Part Two1. Pass out the sheet on a honeybee. Ask students to locate the parts of the honeybee. What are the three body parts called. Show the head, thorax and abdomen, forewings and hind wings and six legs. How do the antennae and eyes sit on the head. Can they find the stinger. 2. If samples of dead bees are available, pass them out so the students can examine the honeybee closely. Ask them to shade or color their drawings to resemble the bee body.3. Now look at the flowers. Where is the pollen located on the tulips, crocus, lily or other flowers. Are there marks on the petals to show the bees how to access the pollen. Use a cotton swab or the live bees to follow the patterns into the flower. Where does the pollen collect on the swab or bee body. You can transfer pollen to another flower. (20 minutes.)

Wrap UpGive each student a sheet of a honey bee without identification on the parts. Ask the students to fill in the names of each part. (10 minutes.)

This lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

Assessing Student Knowledge: Ask students how honeybees are able to collect pollen and nectar. Where do they store the pollen on their body. How does the honeybee benefit the flower. How are they able to find the pollen in each flower. (5 minutes.)

ExtensionsShow pictures of honeybees, bumble bees and other insects collecting pollen. Look closely to see where the honeybees and other insects cary the pollen on their bodies. Ask a beekeeper to visit the classroom and talk about honeybees and what they do.

* MA Department of Education Standards in this lesson * Life Science Standard 1. Recognize that animals and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and need food, air and water. Life Science Standard 3. Recognize that plants and animals have life cycles.

Books and ResourcesMassachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom Newsletter on Pollinationhttp://aginclassroom.org/Newsletter/spring2006.html

Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom Newsletter on Honeybeeshttp://aginclassroom.org/Newsletter/fall2007.html

The Forgotten Pollinator Stephen L. Buchman et. al.

From Flower to Flower Patricia Lauber, Knopf Books, 1987.

Hooray for Beekeepers! Hooray for Farming Bobbie Kalman, Crabtree, 1998. Grades 2-5.

Pollination: World of Wonder by Mary King Koff, Creative Education Resources, 2004.

Please visit the Massachusetts Agriculture in the Classroom website at www.aginclassroom.org to tell us how you used this Pollination Garden-Based Lesson

Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources.

Diagram of a Honeybee

Diagram of a HoneybeeFill in the names of the Parts of the honeybee

Pollinator Bees