Pollinator Preferences with Budburst Nativars

Unit 1 Overview

Rusty Patched Bumble Bee: A Beacon of Hope

* Supplemental activities provide additional supporting NGSS aligned content, but are not required to complete the unit.

1. Lesson 1 - Core

   Along the Railroad Tracks

   Students will be introduced to Andrea Gruver: Master’s Degree Candidate, Plant Biology and Conservation, Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic...

   Read More Lesson Resources (4)
   Close

   Along the Railroad Tracks

   Students will be introduced to Andrea Gruver: Master’s Degree Candidate, Plant Biology and Conservation, Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. She was doing her research on native bees in Illinois along the railroad tracks in Rogers Park, Illinois (a Chicago neighborhood), when she happened to be visited by what some scientists think is a nearly extinct species of bee – the rusty patched bumble bee. She will tell her story in her own words, and that will begin our students’ thinking about how they might create those circumstances that will encourage more visits from these vanishing critters. Then students will put on their community scientist hats and learn about data collection protocols as they make their first, informal observations in their Nativar Research Gardens, local school garden, or through observing pollinators on a video clip.

   1. Lesson 1 Along The Railroad Tracks
   2. Rusty Patch Bumble Bee Story
   3. Pollinator Cards
   4. KWL Chart
2. Lesson 2 - Core

   Fabulous Flowers Dissection

   In this activity, students will learn the anatomy of a flower and suggest and defend the purposes for the different...

   Read More Lesson Resources (4)
   Close

   Fabulous Flowers Dissection

   In this activity, students will learn the anatomy of a flower and suggest and defend the purposes for the different structures. They will also observe the similarities and differences between flowers of different plants. There are up to three parts to this activity: (1) Each student dissects an Alstroemaria (Peruvian lily), identifying flower structures and functions and comparing these structures to those on a similar – but different – species. Students will look for the nectar at the base of the two narrower inner petals of the lily and discuss how producing nectar, having specific flower arrangements and coloring, having a scent, etc., helps to attract specific pollinators. (2) Students will crack open an ovary of their flower to find the developing seeds. They will be guided to make a connection between pollination and the development of a seed. (3) (optional) Each table group dissects a sunflower flower head, as a class identifying flower structures and functions. If sunflower heads are not available, try obtaining tiger lilies, gladiolas, or some other larger flower to observe.

   1. Lesson 2 Fabulous Flower Dissection
   2. Plant Life Cycle and Flower Parts
   3. Dissection Mat
   4. Alstroemaria (Peruvian lily) Dissection
3. Lesson 3 - Core

   Patient Pollinator Count 1

   This activity provides students with hands-on experience observing pollination in their School’s Nativar Gardens or areas around the school (similar...

   Read More Lesson Resources (7)
   Close

   Patient Pollinator Count 1

   This activity provides students with hands-on experience observing pollination in their School’s Nativar Gardens or areas around the school (similar to lesson 1) where flowering plants (and pollinators) might be observed. Students will use the Patient Pollinator Count document for recording their observations. When students get to the lesson titled, “Plotting Plants & Pollinators”, this activity will help students organize, visualize, and present the collected data. The Patient Pollinator Count activity may be used multiple times throughout this unit. This lesson familiarizes students with the effects of horticultural plants. Using a Budburst Nativars research garden, students will observe and record pollinator visits to open flowers to help answer the question: Do pollinators prefer cultivars of native plants species (nativars) or true native plants? Answering this question has real world implications for pollinator conservation.

   1. Lesson 3 Patient Pollinator Count 1
   2. Pollinator ID Guide
   3. A Scientific Protocol
   4. Single Plant 3 Group Pollinator Observation Sheet
   5. Ficha de observación de polinizadores de plantas individuales del grupo 3 en español
   6. Ficha de observación de polinizadores de plantas individuales del grupo 7 en español
   7. Single Plant 7 Group Pollinator Observation Sheet
4. Lesson 4 - Supplemental

   Plant Pollinator Match Up

   In this activity, students will match flower forms to their suspected pollinators and defend their decisions. In the process, they...

   Read More Lesson Resources (4)
   Close

   Plant Pollinator Match Up

   In this activity, students will match flower forms to their suspected pollinators and defend their decisions. In the process, they will review flower structures and connect them to their roles in pollination and seed production.

   1. Lesson 4 Plant Pollinator Match Up
   2. Pollinator Cards
   3. Flower Cards
   4. Match-Up Guide for Teachers
5. Lesson 5 - Supplemental

   The Perfect Pollinator Plucker

   In this lesson, students will practice an engineering design process to design and build the perfect pollinator plucker. This lesson...

   Read More Lesson Resources (3)
   Close

   The Perfect Pollinator Plucker

   In this lesson, students will practice an engineering design process to design and build the perfect pollinator plucker. This lesson lends itself to differentiation. The teacher can decide to have all of the students use the same storyline and problem to design a way to pollinate the Hawaiian Alula, or students could be asked to make up their own narrative and think of a new pollinator/flower relationship that they want to address. Would a hummingbird AND a bee be able to pollinate the same flower? Do they want to design a stick that will be suitable for one type of flower, or do they want to create one that is able to pollinate multiple types of flowers? These considerations (constraints) should help define the design they will sketch and build. Then they will test out their prototypes to see how effective they are in transferring pollen from one flower to another. They will determine all of the constraints and criteria for success, test their prototypes, and consider changes/revisions to their initial prototypes. In this process, students will be reviewing how the process of pollination works as they consider specific pollinator characteristics.

   1. Lesson 5 The Perfect Pollinator Plucker
   2. Flower Cards
   3. Pollinator Cards
6. Lesson 6 - Supplemental

   Patient Pollinator Count 2

   This activity is identical to Lesson 3’s Patient Pollinator Count 1.* Allow students to complete this activity once or twice...

   Read More Lesson Resources (8)
   Close

   Patient Pollinator Count 2

   This activity is identical to Lesson 3’s Patient Pollinator Count 1.* Allow students to complete this activity once or twice a week during the unit. *ALSO, there is an added optional activity for variety and advanced learners called: Comparing Cultivars that is included at the end of this lesson.

   1. Lesson 6 Patient Pollinator Count 2
   2. A Scientific Protocol
   3. Pollinator ID Guide
   4. Ficha de observación de polinizadores de plantas individuales del grupo 3 en español
   5. Single Plant 3 Group Pollinator Observation Sheet
   6. Ficha de observación de polinizadores de plantas individuales del grupo 7 en español
   7. Single Plant 7 Group Pollinator Observation Sheet
   8. Comparing Cultivars (Optional)
7. Lesson 7 - Supplemental

   Flower Know How - The Perfect Flower

   In this activity, students will build and defend a model of what they perceive to be the perfect flower to...

   Read More Lesson Resources (2)
   Close

   Flower Know How - The Perfect Flower

   In this activity, students will build and defend a model of what they perceive to be the perfect flower to match their selected pollinator. This activity builds on their new knowledge of the parts of plants and how plants and pollinators have mutually beneficial structures and relationships.

   1. Pollinator Cards
   2. Flower Know How - The Perfect Flower
8. Lesson 8 - Supplemental

   How Does Your Garden Grow

   In this lesson, students take another look at specific pollinators in their Nativars Research Garden. This time they are honing...

   Read More Lesson Resources (2)
   Close

   How Does Your Garden Grow

   In this lesson, students take another look at specific pollinators in their Nativars Research Garden. This time they are honing in on native bees, looking at how the bees are interacting with the various flowers. Do the bees seems to favor specific colors? Are the flowers a variety of sizes or do the bees tend to favor larger flowers or ones with odd petal arrangements? They will add these observations to their notebooks and create a new garden specifically for bees. Their personal gardens will include native flowering plants for all the growing season, so that bees will always have a source of food (nectar). They will then sketch their garden plots and label them with the plants they think will attract the most bees.

   1. Lesson 8 How Does Your Garden Grow?
   2. Flower Chart
9. Lesson 9 - Core

   Plotting Plants & Pollinators

   This is a class analysis of data to help answer the question: Do pollinators prefer cultivars of native plants species...

   Read More Lesson Resources (2)
   Close

   Plotting Plants & Pollinators

   This is a class analysis of data to help answer the question: Do pollinators prefer cultivars of native plants species (nativars) or true native plants? Though this process, students will practice identifying visual comparisons to explore within a dataset, summarizing data, transforming data from tables to graphs, recognizing and describing trends in the data, and posing new research questions based on their results.

   1. Lesson 9 Plotting Plants and Pollinators
   2. Example Data & Graph
10. Lesson 10 - Core

    What Will We Do For Rusty and Its Pollinator Friends?

    This is the culminating lesson of the curriculum. Students have hopefully learned a lot about the parts of a flower...

    Read More Lesson Resources (1)
    Close

    What Will We Do For Rusty and Its Pollinator Friends?

    This is the culminating lesson of the curriculum. Students have hopefully learned a lot about the parts of a flower and their preferred pollinators! They've learned how flower parts are specialized to help specific pollinators get food as well as how the pollinators’ bodies have evolved to pick up pollen and deliver it to the pistils of flowers. They've learned that many native bees and other pollinators are threatened, endangered, or even thought to be extinct because of loss of habitat, among other things. This habitat loss is often caused by the needs of humans for more land to farm, build homes, and start industries. This final lesson allows student to consider ways they can give nature a helping hand. They will suggest their own research questions and showcase their understandings through a poster presentation.

    1. Lesson 10 What Will We Do For Rusty?