STANDARDS
NGSS: Practice: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information · Crosscutting Concept: Systems and System Models · Core Idea: LS2.A: Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
CCSS: Writing: 3. Write narratives to develop imagined events using well-chosen details and wellstructured event sequences.
TEKS: 6.12D, 7.12A, 8.2E, B.10B, B.12A, E.4G
BIOLOGY: Plants, Reproduction, Human-Animal Interaction
Lesson: Sting Operation
Objective: Evaluate and communicate the importance of pollination by bees for flowering plants and agriculture.
Lesson Plan
ENGAGE
Open the magazine’s presentation view. Turn to page 14 to display the article. Show the opening image to students and read the headline, the smaller text underneath, and the first two paragraphs aloud. Based on this information, and what they already know, ask students to use a KWLS graphic organizer to record responses for “K: What do you know?” and “W: What do you want to know?”. Watch “The Buzz on Bees” video. Then ask students to add information to the “L: What did you learn?” section in the KWLS organizer.
EXPLORE
Read the article aloud. Pause after each section to have students add new information they’ve learned to the “L” section of their organizers. Then have students complete the “S: What do you still want to learn?”.
EXPLAIN
Discuss facts that students added to their charts which highlight bees’ importance. Then share the post-reading prompt: How does a rise in beehive thefts affect beekeepers and farmers, and even what you eat? Assign the “Disappearing Hives” skills sheet for students to complete. When everyone is nished, ask students to present their explanations about why the loss of honeybee colonies affects ecosystems.
EVALUATE
Conduct a demonstration to model how pollinators spread pollen. Demonstrate with two owers (or make paper owers) and sprinkle the stamens with cornstarch to represent pollen. Use a pipe cleaner to represent a bee as it moves from ower to ower seeking nectar. Be sure that the “bee” makes contact with the stamens and stigma. Ask students to observe how the bee transfered pollen. (Alternatively, collect enough supplies for students to model pollination.) Distribute the “Pollination Process” skills sheet to students to complete.
EXTEND
Assign the “Beehive Thieves” skills sheet. Have students work independently or collaboratively to write an investigative report about the bee thefts. Remind students to include details that they learned in the article, such as why bees are targets for theft. Have students share their reports.
⇨ VIDEO EXTRA: Watch a video about the importance of bees.
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