Curated OER
Catch As Catch Can
Students capture and observe insects. Using provided netting, students design and create a butterfly net. They study many types of insects and their benefits. After identifying insects caught, students complete a graph. Students write...
Curated OER
Adopt-An-Insect
In this biology worksheet, middle schoolers locate examples of various types of insects listed in the chart and receive a point value for each according to its significance. Then they identify body parts and habitat for each item.
Curated OER
Catch as Catch Can
Students investigate insects. For this insect analysis lesson, students catch insects using nets they make. They identify the insects they catch and create a chart to show the numbers and varieties. This lesson includes a vocabulary list...
Discovery Education
Discovery Education: Pollination Parties
This lesson helps learners understand the concept of pollination. Objectives, materials, procedures, adaptations, discussion questions, evaluation, extensions, suggested readings, links, vocabulary, and academic standards are all included!
PBS
Idaho Ptv: Science Trek: Bees
A comprehensive overview of bees. Includes three videos: a half-hour show, a video short, and a short video where an expert answers children's questions. Other features of the site include facts, links, games and activities, a reading...
National Audubon Society
National Audubon Society: Audubon Adventures: The Buzz About Native Bees
Resources for learning about the important role bees play in pollinating plants, especially those we eat. Includes a student magazine full of information about bees, an interactive pollination chart, and a quiz.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Hidden Beauty of Pollination
Pollination is a vital to life on Earth but largely unseen by the human eye. Filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg shows us the intricate world of pollen and pollinators with gorgeous high-speed images from his film "Wings of Life," inspired by...
Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy: Discover the Culprit Behind Declining Bee Populations
Bees provide vital benefits to people, including crop pollination and products such as honey and beeswax. But we're losing bees through colony collapse disorder. In this lesson, students are put at the cutting edge of research on...
Other
Canada Agriculture Museum: Bees: A Honey of an Idea
Learn about bees, from different types, pollination to the processes utilized to extract, package, and use honey and its by-products. Includes quick facts, recipes, craft ideas, and printable activities for students.
Scientific American
Scientific American: The Buzz on Bees: In Depth Reports
Read this multimedia article about the disappearance of bee colonies worldwide. Find out why it is crucial to saving this important pollinator from extinction.
Other
What Is Pollination?
This website answers the questions: What is pollination? What is a pollinator? What are the benefits?
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Education: Partners in Pollination
Here is a three-part lesson plan on the plant and animal relationship in respect to pollination.
NC State University
Beekeeping Insect Note: Cucumber Pollination
How many bees do you need to pollinate cucumbers? How do you maintain the hives? Answers to these questions and more.
National Audubon Society
National Audubon Society: Audubon Adventures: The Pollination Story
A colorful, interactive chart illustrating the stages in the pollination of flowers by bees.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: How Bees Help Plants Have Sex
Fernanda S. Valdovinos explains how intricate pollination networks work and how it can all change from one season to the next. [5:25]
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Pollination
Students are asked to explain the relationship between a bee and a flower.
Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Habitat Network: Habitat Feature: Bare Earth for Native Pollinators
Find out why keeping a part of your yard as bare ground is important for providing nesting habitat for native bees.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Human and the Honeybee
Both honeybees and humans originated in East Africa, and the connection between us has survived the ages. Dino Martins encourages us to remember how much we owe to these magnificent insects. [6:25]
University of Arizona
University of Arizona: Africanized Honey Bees on the Move
This is a lesson plan for grades 9 - 12. There are worksheets that can be printed out. Each activity and objective is stated.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Bees Are Master Pollinators
The study of biomimicry and sustainable design promises great benefits in design application. It affords means by which to promote cost-effective, resourceful, non-polluting avenues for new enterprise. These "blueprints" have existed...
US Department of Agriculture
Us Department of Agriculture: Is It or Isn't a Bee?
This informative site takes a look at other insects that look like bees but in fact are not. Physical traits and characteristics are commented on for comparison purposes.
PBS
Pbs: Nature: Obsession With Orchids
PBS features this program on orchids, including a short video on how an orchid encourages a bee to carry pollen to another flower. There are 3 articles focusing on the flower's ability to coax insects into pollinating other orchids, new...
Encyclopedia of Earth
Encyclopedia of Earth: Botany: Bumblebee
Article on the bumblebee. Covers physical features, life in a colony and as a pollinator, and threats to its survival. Includes links to additional resources. (Published: April 14, 2008)
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees
A lesson investigating the decreasing population of the US honeybee population. There is a video that explores possible causes and the effect this decrease has on our environment. After the video, the students can test their knowledge...