The Buzz about Bees

Standards for 3rd and 4th Grade 

3rd Grade Science Standards (California):
3. Adaptations in physical structure or behavior may improve an organism’s chance for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know plants and animals have structures that serve different functions in growth, survival, and reproduction.
b. Students know examples of diverse life forms in different environments, such as oceans, deserts, tundra, forests, grasslands, and wetlands.
c. Students know living things cause changes in the environment in which they live: some of these changes are detrimental to the organism or other organisms, and some are beneficial.
d. Students know when the environment changes, some plants and animals survive and reproduce; others die or move to new locations.
e. Students know that some kinds of organisms that once lived on Earth have completely disappeared and that some of those resembled others that are alive today.

4th Grade Science Standards (California):
2. All organisms need energy and matter to live and grow. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know plants are the primary source of matter and energy  entering most food chains.
b. Students know producers and consumers (herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, and decomposers) are related in food chains and food webs and may compete with each other for resources in an ecosystem.
c. Students know decomposers, including many fungi, insects, and microorganisms, recycle matter from dead plants and animals.

3. Living organisms depend on one another and on their environment for survival. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know ecosystems can be characterized by their living and nonliving components.
b. Students know that in any particular environment, some kinds of plants and animals survive well, some survive less well, and some cannot survive at all.
c. Students know many plants depend on animals for pollination and seed dispersal, and animals depend on plants for food and shelter.
d. Students know that most microorganisms do not cause disease and that many are beneficial.

 

Use this link to find standards that fit this lesson in another state: 

 http://www.nea.org/classroom/curr-standards.html

 

Notes for the Teaching Unit:

Materials/technology needed:   computers with powerpoint, scanner, printer, colored pencils or crayons

 

For answers to the Pollination and Honey Maps and Bee Body worksheets see www.honey.com.  There you will also find additional resources and information about bees, pollination, honey, and the beekeeper.  These are recipes for kids as well as "fun" sheets such as crossword puzzles, word searches, and mazes. 

 

 

For ELL and lower-level learners, teachers may want to scale down the amount of questions on the HoneyBee Scavenger Hunt or the amount of work given.  It is recommended that teachers keep students in pairs when completing these activities in order to increase student participation and motivation.  Displaying the powerpoint presentation example on bees is also recommended for students who are ELL or lower-level.

 

For gifted learners, teachers may want to make the HoneyBee Scavenger Hunt and the other activities individual work.  Teachers can also have their gifted learners find other websites that can provide help with the questions.  For example, the HoneyBee Scavenger Hunt can be scanned onto the computer so that the students can look up websites to find some information and type in the answers at the same time.  Teachers can also increase the amount of slides required for the powerpoint presentation to accommodate gifted learners and have them present their information to other classrooms.

 

Additional Resources:

Bees by Julie Murray published by Buddy Books

Bees by Kevin J. Holmes, published by Bridgestone Books

The Magic School Bus:  Inside a Beehive, by Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen, published by Scolastic

Bees and Wasps by David Cutts, and "I Can Read about Book": published by Troll