Lesson summary
Bees pollinate at least a third of everything we eat and play a vital role in sustaining our ecosystems, therefore they need to be valued and protected. This lesson introduces students to the topic of bees through nature-based mindfulness practices. This mindfulness activity is designed to connect students to their local environment while teaching awareness of posture, breathing, relaxation and concentration. Nature metaphors and references to bees are imbued in these practices as a technique to connect students the themes throughout the Love Food? Love Bees! unit.
Essential questions:
- How can we enhance focus, empathy and happiness through connection with nature?
- How can we cultivate present moment awareness so that calm, considered and conscious choices can begin to replace impulsive, unconscious reactions?
- How can we have hands-on contact with the natural world?
- How do bees fit into our local environment and what relationships do they have with other living things?
Lesson guides and printables
Lesson details
Curriculum mapping
Australian curriculum content description:Â
These activities can be used with all subject areas to enable deep focus and engagement with students; however, the following curriculum links directly relate to these activities.
Year 5 & 6 Health and Physical Education:
- Plan and practise strategies to promote health, safety and well being (ACPPS054)
- Examine the influence of emotional responses on behaviour and relationships (ACPPS056)
- Investigate the role of preventive health in promoting and maintaining health, safety and well being for individuals and their communities (ACPPS058)
- Explore how participation in outdoor activities supports personal and community health and well being and creates connections to the natural and built environment (ACPPS059)
Year 5 Science:
- Living things have structural features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment (ACSSU043)
Year 6 Science:
- The growth and survival of living things are affected by physical conditions of their environment (ACSSU094)
General capabilities: Personal and Social Capability.
Cross-curriculum priority:Â Sustainability OI.2.
Unit of work: Love Food? Love Bees!
Time required: 60 mins.
Level of teacher scaffolding: High – lead students in mindfulness activities.
Resources required
- An outside space for the nature walk
- ‘Mindful Colouring – Blue-Banded Bee‘ sheet, some coloured pencils and a clipboard to each student (for the extension activity).
Skills
This lesson is designed to build students’ competencies in the following skills:
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Creativity
- Collaboration
- Ethical understanding
Additional info
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.
