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

Grow It Day

Grow It Day: Pollinator Watch
// How flowers make seeds with a little help
⏱ about 15 min

Grow It Day: Pollinator Watch

Rocket wants to run right up to the flowers. Raven holds up a hand. "Slow and still," she whispers.

"What do you notice when we wait?" she asks.

Nova hovers quietly far above the flowers. "Patient scientists see the most," she says. "Who will visit first?"

Rocket sits down and gets his pencil ready.

  1. Flowers have sepals, petals, stamens and a pistil.
  2. Pollination moves pollen from an anther to a stigma.
  3. Ovules become seeds, and the ovary becomes the fruit.
  4. Pollinators visit for nectar and pollen. Colors, shapes and scents attract them.
  5. Bees cannot see red. Hummingbirds love red tubes. Wind carries corn pollen.
◇ TEN-MINUTE POLLINATOR WATCH
Choose a sunny, warm time of day.
Find a patch of flowers in a yard, park or flower pot.
Sit or stand still a few steps away.
A grown-up starts a ten-minute timer.
Make a tally mark each time an animal lands on a flower.
At the end, add up each row. Talk about what you saw.
Safety first
Stay calm and still. Never touch, swat or chase a bee or any insect.
Do not touch or pick unknown wild plants.
Never eat any flower, berry, seed or leaf you find outside.
A grown-up checks first for bee allergies and stays with you.
For a grown-up
Late in the season, there may be few flowers or visitors. A count of zero is real data too.
If it is cold or rainy, plan the watch for the next warm, sunny day.
VisitorTallyTotal
bees
butterflies
flies
other
WATCH CHECK
  • Read the question.
  • Tap your answer.
Why do we stay still during the watch?
A visitor drinks nectar from a flower. What might it carry away?

Wonderful watching! Next week we find out how seeds travel to new places.

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