Save the Honeybees
Spring has turned into summer! The heat is cranked up and this week has been full of sunshine. As a tie in to first grade's science unit on living organisms and their needs, small groups learned about the needs and dangers for honeybees.
We started by discussing evaluative thinking and doing some exercises to stretch our decision making skills. Then, students imagined they were creating a brand new world - complete with only the insects they wanted. Students had to decide which insects they would keep and why.
One of the insects they had to decide to keep was the honeybee. After students had made their decision, we talked about why they chose to keep or get rid of the honeybee. Many students said they would get rid of the honeybee because, "It makes pollen," or "They sting people." Other students decided to keep the honeybee because, "It makes honey."
Then, we read The Honeybee's Hive: A Thriving City. While reading, students signaled when there was something interesting or important. Students used a thumbs up for interesting and the ASL sign for bee when it was important. We recorded each of these ideas on a chart.
Students were fascinated by the honeybee! There were so many things they were surprised by. To be honest, I was also surprised by some things.
Some things that we wrote on the chart for interesting were:
- Honeybees visit up to 10,000 flowers a day.
- Honeybees communicate about the location of food through dances.
- They have pollen baskets on their legs so they can collect grains of pollen to take back to the hive.
Some important notes we took were:
- Honeybees are responsible for pollinating over 130 crops in the United States, about 1/3 of the food we eat.
- More than half of the honeybee population live in beekeepers' hives.
- Honeybees are dying due to Colony Collapse Disorder and scientists don't know exactly what is causing it.
Finally, we did a thinking routine from Making Thinking Visible (one of my favorite books) called I used to think...Now, I think...Students wrote down what they used to think about honeybees and what they think now after learning more. Check out their responses below.
