Lesson Tutor : Fun Stuff To Do While Studying Bees

Fun Stuff to do While Studying Bees
by Lisa Hawkins

These activities go along with my other articles, making a complete bee unit study. Observe bees in your neighborhood. Do they keep visiting the same flower? Do they seem to prefer one type of flower? Is there more than one kind of bee visiting this garden? Write you observation in a notebook.

Keeping a safe distance, try to observe, identify and describe the differences between a wasp and a bee.

Write, audio tape or video tape a commercial promoting bees and the ways they help man. Try to promote why we should not be afraid of bees. Show the commercial to your friends.

Visit a beekeeper. Ask for a tour.

Purchase some honey from someone who keeps their own bees.

Bees only sting when they feel they are in danger. Discuss why you are more likely to get stung by a bee if you flail your arms and swat at a bee. If you are ever stung by a bee you should run and seek shelter.

Draw bee parts on index cards. Draw at least 4 of each of the following:

head, thorax, abdomen, 3 left legs, 3 right legs, stinger, wings, and antenna.
Deal out 4 cards to each player. Starting with the youngest player, play “go bee” using the traditional “go fish” rules.

Bees “smell” with their antenna and breath through their spiracles in the sides of their bodies. They also have a straw like tongue and plier like jaws and together they are called a proboscis. Draw a picture of what you would look like if you had those same features. Don’t forget those HAIRY legs!

Why do you think honey bees have hairy legs and wasps don’t? Think about pollination.

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