Adaptations - Bee's Knees and Flower Power

This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:

• communication
• critical thinking
• collaboration
• ethical understanding
• social skills

Australian curriculum content descriptions:

Year 5 Science:

• Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment (ACSSU043)
• With guidance, pose clarifying questions and make predictions about scientific investigations (ACSIS231)
• Communicate ideas, explanations and processes using scientific representations in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS093)

Year 5 English:

• Clarify understanding of content as it unfolds in formal and informal situations, connecting ideas to students’ own experiences and present and justify a point of view (ACELY1699)
• Use comprehension strategies to analyse information, integrating and linking ideas from a variety of print and digital sources (ACELY1703)

Year 6 Science:

• The growth and survival of living things are affected by physical conditions of their environment (ACSSU094)
• With guidance, pose clarifying questions and make predictions about scientific investigations (ACSIS232)
• Communicate ideas, explanations and processes using scientific representations in a variety of ways, including multi-modal texts (ACSIS110)

 Year 6 English:

• Use comprehension strategies to interpret and analyse information and ideas, comparing content from a variety of textual sources including media and digital texts (AACELY1713)

General capabilities: Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Capability

Cross-curriculum priority: Sustainability

Relevant parts of Year 5 English achievement standards: When reading, students encounter and decode unfamiliar words using phonic, grammatical, semantic and contextual knowledge. They listen and ask questions to clarify content. They contribute actively to class and group discussions, taking into account other perspectives.

Relevant parts of Year 5 Science achievement standards: Analyse how the form of living things enables them to function in their environments.

Relevant parts of Year 6 English achievement standards: Students select and use evidence from a text to explain their response to it. They listen to discussions, clarifying content and challenging others’ ideas. They make presentations and contribute actively to class and group discussions, using a variety of strategies for effect.

Relevant parts of Year 6 Science achievement standards: Describe and predict the effect of environmental changes on individual living things.

Unit of work: Love Food? Love Bees!

Level of teacher scaffolding: High – facilitate class discussion.

Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss

• Target 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.

• Student Worksheet and Adaptations – Bee and Plant Factsheet – one printed copy per student
• Projector, butcher’s paper, scissors, tweezers, collection of flowers for dissection (1-2 flowers per group), workbooks or piece of A4 sized paper for each student, grey lead pencils and magnifying glasses (if available), sticky-notes
• Hive of Reflection print-out

This lesson has been created in partnership with ACT for Bees. ACT for Bees is a not-for-profit organisation taking action to preserve these essential pollinators, ensuring a food-secure future.

How To Teach Sustainability With Hope

Quick summary: This course is for both primary and secondary teachers of all subjects, but especially for English, Science, Humanities and Geography teachers who are covering climate change and the cross-curriculum priority of sustainability.