Field Investigation: How Pollinators Pollinate

Students will investigate how pollinators (bees, beetles, birds, butterflies, etc.) help to transfer pollen from one flower to another.   


 
Click on the orange links to access free educational materials:  

Lesson Plans  |   ALSDE Standards Taught
 
Activity Page (or as Word Doc) with Answer Page
 
Outdoor Activity Materials:  activity pages, clipboards, pencils, magnifying glasses, Q-tips, crayons or colored pencils












 
Step 1: Engage through Discussion
     
Engage the students and capture their interests with an Interactive Q&A (or as PDF) that allows you to click through the questions one at a time.  You can gauge your students' understanding of the topic as they answer the questions. Print and use the Q&A Info Sheet (or as Word Doc) to anticipate the next question in the Interactive Q&A and to guide the conversation with the students.  (Note:  For the PowerPoint (PPT), click "Slide Show" & "From Beginning" to display the questions and answers separately.)
 
Use these tools to continue the discussion:
 
 
 
Step 2: Explore with Literature
   
As you read these books, you can further explore the topic and discuss your students' experiences and knowledge around the topic:

What is Pollination? (Big Science Ideas) by Bobbie Kalman (ISBN: 978-0778733065)

The Reason for a Flower: A Book about Flowers, Pollen & Seeds by Ruth Heller (ISBN: 978-0698115590)

Animal Pollinators by Jennifer Boothroyd (ISBN: 978-1467760690)

Who Will Plant a Tree? by Jerry Pallotta (ISBN: 978-1585365029)
Front Cover
 
 
Step 3: Explain with an Educational Video
     
Use these educational videos to help explain the topic in more detail:
     
     
Pollination for Kids 
(6:48 min) @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AuVm1jpKEA


 		 Seed Song-How Seeds Move 
(4:25 min) @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CCOWHa-qfc


 		 The Decline in Bees -
Part of an America's Heartland show 
(5:12 min. total - click play button and it will auto-play from 8:43 to 13:55)
@ http://www.americasheartland.org/episodes/
episode_304/migrant_bees.html





















 

 ​    
Step 4: Elaborate with a Field Investigation in the Outdoor Classroom
 
Students apply what they have learned as they investigate the topic in your outdoor classroom and record their real-world observations on their How Pollinators Pollinate Activity Page (as a Word Doc).
 
Activity Tips
  • Review the Outdoor Classroom Rules with students before going outside. 
  • Conduct this activity in the warm months of the spring when plants, shrubs and trees are flowering. Give students a magnifying glass to magnify the pollen in the flowers, and a Q-tip and ziploc bag to collect the pollen. Consider letting the students work in groups of three so that one student can hold the clipboard, one can hold the magnifying glass to view the pollen in the flower, and one can collect the sample of pollen with a Q-tip as they take turns recording their observations.  
Procedure

Indoor Discussion:
  1. Use the AWF's Ecosystem Investigation: Pollinators and Their Habitats Webpage to review the pollination process and to learn about Alabama's common pollinators and their habitats.
  2. Discuss what types of flowering plants are in the outdoor classroom and what type of pollinators the students may see in the outdoor classroom.
Outdoor Discovery:
  1. Students explore your outdoor classroom to find a flowering plant such as a wildflower, tree, or bush.
  2. Using a magnifying glass to view the pollen, have them draw a picture of the flower and its pollen on their How Pollinators Pollinate Activity Page.  Optional: have students collect pollen with a Q-tip and a ziplock bag. 
  3. Then they search for an example of a pollinator that could possibly help pollinate that flower, and they draw a picture of the pollinator on the Activity Page. 
  4. Have the students write or draw the pollination process on their activity page.
Indoor Discussion:
  1. Review the various types of pollinators that were seen in the outdoor classroom.
  2. Discuss the various types of pollinators and how pollen is transferred from one flower to another including birds and bees extracting nectar and transfering pollen from one flower to another.
Optional Extension:
Wildlife Identification Resources
national audubon society field guide to the southeastern states
 
 
Step 5: Evaluate with an Assessment Activity
   
Review and assess the students’ observations and answers on their observation pages:  Answer Page

Evaluate the students' understanding of the topic with the following assessment tools:
 
 ​    


Questions? Contact us at oc@alabamawildlife.org.
​​​
 
.