Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

20 minutes

Part A: Symbiosis: Bees and Pollination

30 minutes

Part B: Learning About Bees - What do They Actually do?

30 minutes

Part C: Connecting Bees, Pollination and Food

10 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions:

Students will...

understand the relationship between bees, flowering plants, and food production.
use mathematical skills to explore facts about bees and their role as pollinators.

Success criteria:

Students can...

explain the role of bees in food production and their importance as pollinators.
complete a mini maths problem, generate questions, and summarise their understanding of the bees’ role in food production.

Part A: Symbiosis: bees and pollination

Step 1

Ask students to sit in a formation suitable for viewing this short video:

Flower Pollination (https://youtu.be/ge3EM8AERV0)

Step 2

Invite students to consider the ideas, questions and problems that have arisen as a result of watching the short video. They should do so using the 'Chalk-Talk' visible thinking tool, whereby they silently communicate their thoughts about a set prompt by writing their ideas on a shared piece of paper. In writing what they are thinking, students will prompt further thought amongst their group members. This visible thinking tool is essentially a silent conversation - it allows students to take time and consider multiple views, as well as giving them the freedom to take some time to articulate and express what they are thinking.

Invite students to move their chairs so that they are sitting in small circles of about 4-5 students. Give each group a copy of the Chalk-Talk Visible Thinking Tool and explain that they should use the tool to explore what they saw in the video. More specifically, students are prompted to: "write your ideas, thoughts, questions and wonderings on the link between bees and flowers".

Consider the following:

The tool works best when students write their own thoughts down on the paper without chatting for 5-10 minutes.
While students are working, you can circulate amongst groups and prompt students to connect ideas on the page, elaborate on others' ideas, comment on what others have written and ask each other to provide more detail.
After they have noted their ideas, ask students to spend some time reading the paper and to notice and discuss with their group any themes that have emerged, as well as any common issues and reactions. You could also ask students to identify anything that surprised them.
Once students have debriefed what they wrote and noticed during the Chalk-Talk exercise, ask them to consider the process, too. You could ask groups to consider how their thinking developed during the Chalk Talk activity.

Step 3

Re-form as a class, and ask each group to share two or three of the thoughts detailed in their Chalk Talk. Students not sharing should be encouraged to ask any clarifying questions or add further comments if they have any. After each group has had a chance to share, ask one person to bring their work up to the front of the room and stick it to the wall/board with Blu-Tack so that the class can view and consider each other's thoughts.

If students have not yet discussed the points below, summarise this part of the lesson by noting that:

Flowering plants all go through the same basic life cycle (birth, life, reproduction and death).
Flowers are the reproductive organs of a plant and contain both female and male parts.
Pollen is an important part of plant reproduction - most flowers need the pollen from other flowers in order to be able to reproduce.
Flowers can't move so need assistance from wind or a pollinator to transfer pollen to other flowers (this process is called cross pollination).
Plants have developed relationships with animals to attract pollinators to visit them and animals to help spread their seeds.
Bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers to take back to the hive to make honey and to eat.
Bees move from flower to flower to collect what they need, and in doing so transfer pollen between flowers, pollinating them.
Flowers and bees have a mutually beneficial, or symbiotic relationship.

Hot tip: Working individually and being silent can be very challenging for some students. Remind them to draw on the skills they built in the 'Being Mindful' lesson. They can focus on internalising their thoughts and if this feels uncomfortable, they can focus on their breathing by bringing awareness to their breath and visualising the journey it travels through their body.

Part B: Learning about bees: what do they actually do?

Preparation:

Before beginning this activity, cut out each of the hexagons in the Learning about bees - maths questions resource. You may consider pre-assigning the hexagons to students based on their maths achievement level.

This activity integrates mathematics skills with 'The Question' Thinker's Key to help develop students' rich questioning skills. It is an excellent break from the pattern of the teacher asking all of the questions. Students still need to demonstrate a solid knowledge base, which they can gain from reading the snippets of information on each of the hexagons.

Step 1

Give each student one "answer" hexagon and one blank "question" hexagon. Invite students to read the information on their "answer" hexagon. Students are required to solve a maths problem to complete the information on the hexagon. You may need to circulate amongst the class and ensure that each student has identified a strategy to complete the sum on their hexagon.

Step 2

Invite students to take their blank "question" hexagon and think more deeply around the bee fact on the "answer" hexagon. Students should start with the answer and think of three questions that can be linked to that answer only.

For example:

Step 3

Once students have drafted their questions, invite them to select one only and write it on the blank "questions" hexagon, then using glue or tape, stick the question on top of the answer so that the question hexagon can be flipped to reveal the answer.

Step 4

Invite all students to stick the question/answer hexagons on the wall to create an information display, and give the class some time to read each other's questions and the information they link to.

Part C: Connecting bees, pollination and food

Step 1

Start this section of the lesson by watching this video (a time-lapse of cherries being pollinated and growing):

Growing Cherries - A 5 Month Time Lapse (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q80pcN0lp8s)

Step 2

Ask students about what they saw happening in the clip. What did they notice about the sequence of events and the role that bees played? Ask students if they are surprised about anything they saw in the clip and have a quick discussion about each comment made by students.

Step 3

Invite your class to view the images on the Student Worksheet and ask them to describe what they observe in each picture.

Step 4

Ask students to demonstrate their learning by describing the links between bees, pollination and food in a short informative piece on the Student Worksheet. They should include these terms in their writing:

bees
pollination
food
nectar
pollen
flowers
fruit
vegetables.

If students are not confident with any of the terms above, you could encourage them to find the information on the hexagons created in Part B of this lesson.

Reflection

1. Invite students to use the ‘Connect, Extend, Challenge’ thinking tool to reflect on their learning throughout the lesson. This activity will help students to make connections between prior knowledge and new ideas. It also encourages students to consider questions and expand their thinking. They are asked on the Student Worksheet to:

Connect: How were the ideas you learnt today connected to what you already knew about bees, pollination and the food we eat?
Extend: What new facts and ideas did you come up with today that extended your thinking or moved it in a new direction?
Challenge: What is still challenging or difficult for you to understand? What questions do you now have? What are you wondering?

Students could then write any challenges on a sticky-note, and attach it somewhere prominent. When students have finished or have free time, they could go to the collection of notes and choose one to find out more about using an online search.

You could view students’ responses and use these as a formative assessment for future lessons.

2. If students started the ‘Hive of Reflection’ activity in the ‘Beeing Curious’ lesson, distribute another exit slip to each students and ask them to respond to the prompt. As you progress through each lesson in the Love Food? Love Bees! unit, students can continue to reflect on their learning by add new cells to the honeycomb of the Hive of Reflection wall display.

Differentiated Learning

Extension: Students who finish early could be challenged to create an infographic that details the information discovered throughout the lesson. They could use this website to do so. There are enough information hexagons for more than one per student - if appropriate, fast finishers can create questions for as many information hexagons as they can.

Provisional Learning Support: In Part B, instead of framing a question, students could search online and print (or draw) an image that represents the information on the hexagon they are working with.

Bees, Pollination and Food

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Summary

Learning intentions:

Students will...

Success criteria:

Students can...

Lesson guides and printables

Lesson Details

Skills

Curriculum Mapping

Resources Required

UN Sustainable Development Goals

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