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Grow It 3-5 / Week 06 / Friday
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Week 06 · Flowers and Pollinators

Friday

Bees up close
// How flowers make seeds with a little help
⏱ about 15 min

Friday: Bees Up Close

Rocket draws a giant beehive. "All bees live in hives with a queen," he announces.

Raven flips through her nature guide. "What do you notice? Many bees here live alone."

Nova hovers beside the guide. "Bees are more different than you think," she says. "Count the kinds."

Rocket's eyes go wide. "Thousands?"

So many bees

The United States has over 4,000 kinds of native bees.

Most bees are solitary. That means they live alone, not in a big hive.

A few kinds are social. Bumblebees live in groups with a queen.

Bees visit flowers on purpose to collect pollen and nectar.

They gather this food for themselves and their young.

BEE FACTS
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
How many kinds of native bees live in the United States?
How do most bees live?
Why do bees collect pollen and nectar?
StatementTrue or false?
All bees live in hives with a queen.?
Bumblebees live in groups.?
Bees visit flowers on purpose to collect food.?
WHY THIS EXERCISEThere are thousands of kinds of bees, and most live alone.
A bee that lives alone is called ____.
Bees cannot see the color ____.

Plan a pollinator watch

Tomorrow you will watch flowers for ten minutes.

You will make a tally mark for each visitor.

Here is a sample tally table with made-up practice numbers.

VisitorTally (made-up practice numbers)Total
beesIIII II7
butterfliesII2
fliesIIII4
otherI1
Practice table: how many visitors in all? Add the totals.
WHY THIS EXERCISE7 plus 2 plus 4 plus 1 is 14 visitors.
POLLINATOR WATCH STEPS
  • ?Start a ten-minute timer.
  • ?Make a tally mark for each visitor.
  • ?Stand or sit still a few steps away.
  • ?Add up each row at the end.
  • ?Pick a flower patch in the sun.
WHY THIS EXERCISEA careful plan makes your count fair and safe.
Safety first
Stay a few steps back. Never touch, swat or chase a bee.
Do not pick or touch unknown wild plants.
If you have a bee allergy, a grown-up decides if and how you watch.
Try it
Check your bean plant. Measure the stem and count the leaves.
Look for any flower buds. Write what you see in your growth log.
Draw the flower patch you plan to watch. Mark where you will sit.

Brilliant bee study! Tomorrow is Grow It Day. Your family will count real flower visitors.

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