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Pollination Hunt Ages: 9-11 Time: 15 minutes Objective: Students will: Materials: Procedures: 1. Orient students to the activity by telling them they will go outside to look at different types of flowers on their school site. Different pollinators prefer different sizes and shapes of flowers. Butterflies like large flowers on which they can land. Hummingbirds can use their long beaks to reach deep into tube shaped flowers. Beetles that do not fly may only be able to pollinate flowers that are close to the ground. Show a flower to the class and locate the pollen. Point out the anthers with the pollen clustered at the ends. Discuss pollinators coming to get nectar and taking pollen to another flower of the same kind. Make it clear that although the pollinator may visit more than one kind of flower, to create a seed, pollen must travel between the same kind of flowers. 2. Review proper outdoor behavior. Stress that we will be using our school site as an outdoor classroom and must behave appropriately. 3. Divide the class into groups (3 or more) and explain their assignment.
Give each group a Pollination Hunt worksheet (see attached) and discuss
how to complete each column. Student Worksheet Instructions:
4. Lead the class outside. Assign each group to a specific area of the school site. The group volunteer can record student responses as they dictate. Older students can record their own responses. Provide flagging tape or colored paper to mark the flowers that they find. 5. After 15 minutes, bring the whole group together. Have each group show the other groups what they found and marked. 6. Follow-up with the following questions. What can we do to help pollinators at our school?
Hunt for the following flowers outside. When you find one, place a check mark next to the description on the sheet. Look closely at each flower and guess which pollinators would like that flower. Write your answer in the "pollinators that might visit" column. The first column has been filled in as an example.
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