The Great Pollinators
Common Core Standards (science and math)
STANDARD 4 - Organisms and Ecosystems
The competent science teacher understands and can apply concepts that describe how living things interact with each other and with their environment.
Knowledge Indicators - The competent science teacher:
4A.
understands how living and nonliving factors interact with one another and with their environment.
4B.
understands the strategies and adaptations used by organisms to obtain the basic requirements of life.
Standard 3 – Measurement and Data
3.MD.3. Draw a scaled picture graph and a scaled bar graph to represent a data set with several categories.
Background:
In this lesson plan, children become familiar with the parts of a flowering plant’s reproductive system and explain how flowering
plants depend on pollinators for survival. Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther of a flower to the
female stigma. The goal of every living organism, including plants, is to create offspring for the next generation. How does pollen
get from one flower to another? Flowers must rely on vectors, or pollinators, to move pollen. These vectors can include wind,
water, birds, insects, butterflies, bats, and other animals that visit flowers. Student will then take this understanding and observe
pollinators and graph their observations.
Vocabulary:
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flowering plants
imperfect flowers
perfect flowers
non-flowering plants
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pollination
Diptera (fly, mosquitoes)
Coleopetra (beetles, lady beetle, fireflies
Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths)
 Hymenoptera (bees wasp, and hornets)
 Homoptera (aphids)
Materials
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Odonata (dragonflies)
Various flowering plants with flowers (roses, lilies, roses, dandelion, sunflower, watermelon, etc)
Chart – Pollinators and How Flowers Attract Them (appendix A)
Flower Characteristics Data Table (appendix A)
Flower Shapes Chart (appendix A)
Graph paper
Colors/Pencils
Computer
Paper
Hand lenses
Pencils
Procedure:
After an introduction to the different types of pollinators and how flowers attract them, student will be ready to investigate
different flowering plants and determine the types of pollinators that pollinate for them. This activity is best if completed in small
groups of 2-4 students. This activity will also be a two part activity one in the classroom and one outside making observations.
Part I
1. Prepare lesson by setting up stations each with various flowering plants (make sure all plants are labeled) hand
lenses, charts, and data tables with pencils.
2. Student will take turns choosing a flowering plant to investigate and write the name of that flowering plant on their
data table
3. They will compare the shape of their flower to the Flower Shapes Page and record the Shape of their flowers on their
data tables.
4. Students will record the color and odor of their flower on the data table.
5. Based on the information student recorded on their flower, they will use the Pollinators and How Flowers Attract
Them chart to determine the types of pollinators their flowers might have.
Part II
1. Based on the information provided in part I, students will take a walk in a local park, neighborhood or around the school and
create a journal of the different types of pollinators with the flowers that they pollinate.
2. While student are observing pollinators, students should pay attention to the differences in the flowers and use this
knowledge to increase their observations of a variety of pollinators.
3. Student will also be creating a tally or frequency chart of their observations. They will record each pollinator they observed as
well as how many they did observe.
4. When the class returns to the classroom, each group will take their frequency chart /tally chart of their observations and turn
it into a bar graph.
5. Show students the example graph (Appendix) so they understand expectations.
6. Students can use graph paper or computers to create their graph to represent their data.
7. Using the bar graphs students will also need to record the mean, median, mode, and range of their data.
Questions to ask
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How many of these flowers can you find at a park or in your neighborhood?
What types of pollinators might these flowers plants have?
How do you think the shape of a flower would affect how the flower is pollinated?
What would the advantage of animal or insect pollination be over wind pollination (when the wind blows pollen through the
air?)
When observing insects, how would the knowledge of flower shape, color, and smell be beneficial?
Extensions:
Ask Students to create a graph using the entire class observations.
Resources:
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Bats by Sylvia A. Johnson. Describes the varied characteristics and habits of bats and the importance of their roles as
pollinators and seed dispersers.
Roses Red, Violet Blue: Why Flowers Have Colors by Sylvia A. Johnson. Excellent teacher resource that examines the nature
and function of flower colors and explains their role in attracting animal pollinators to help the plants reproduce.
The Magic School Bus Plants Seed by Joanna Cole, Bruce Degan, Patricia Relf. While on their adventure, Ms. Frizzle’s class
learns about the parts of a flower and how a see is made.
Plants by Jackie Ball, Denise Vega, Uechi Ng. Describes the appearance, life-cycle, pollination, food, and development of the
amazing plants all around us.
Eye Wonder: Plant by DK Publishing, Fleur Star. Examine what a plant is, find out how plants support all other life on the
planet, and discover their tricks of attracting pollinators and the secret weapons they use to keep predators at bay.
Websites:
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Brainpop: Pollination www.brainpop.com/science/cellularlifeandgenetics/pollination/
Biology of Plants: Pollination www.mbgnet.net/bioplants/pollination.html.
US Forest Service: Pollinators http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/index.shtml
The Great Pollinators
60
50
Butterflies
40
flies
lady beetles
30
moths
bees
20
beetles
10
0
Category 1
Pollinators and How Flowers Attract Them
Pollinator
Flower Shape
Trumpet
Flower Color
Orange
Flower Odor
Sweet
Large Wheel
Bright yellow,
orange
None
Large Wheel
White, dull
reddish-brown
Spicy of like
rotting fruit
Various
Drab, colorless or
green
Blue, yellow,
purple
Blue, yellow, red,
orange, pink
White or birth
colors visible at
dusk
Foul odor
Aphids
Dragonflies
Beetles
Flies
Bees
Wheels
Tube or spurred
Butterflies
Moths
Tube or
sometimes
without petals
Sweet
Sweet
Sweet after dusk
Appendix A
Flower Characteristic Data Table
Flower Name
Flower Shape
Flower Color
Flower Odor
Likely
Pollinator