Pollen collecting #1 Long tongues…short tongues

To help you make the most of your Bee Scene expedition this year, we have compiled a
collection of some of the Wild About Plants team’s favourite Bee Scene activities and
investigations. We have delivered more than 150 Bee Scene workshops and so all of these
activities are tried and tested. They support the survey by providing a context for it, enhancing
pupils’ learning experience. We hope you enjoy your expedition this year and please, as always
let us know how you and the pupils get on.
You can access all of the Bee Scene survey resources online at www.wlldaboutplants.org.uk/
beescene. More details are on the back page.
Happy and healthy outdoors (or the health and safety bit…)
As with all outdoor activities you will need to undertake some preparation and planning before going on
your Bee Scene expedition. Think carefully about the rules you will put in place in order to keep everyone
happy and safe and how you will manage each activity. We provide guidance for teachers on managing
groups in the outdoors in our ‘Exploring the Nature on your Doorstep’ teachers’ guide which you can
download from the website www.wildaboutplants.org.uk/resources.
Long tongues…short
tongues
Aim: For pupils to understand that
bees collect nectar from flowers
according to flower shape and
length of tongue. Therefore in
order for a place to be ‘good’ for
bees we need to see a variety of flower shapes.
Materials: Images of a flat flower and a bell shaped
flower. You can use a daisy shape cut out as the flat
flower and then make it into a cone shape to show the
bell-shaped flower.
Activity:
1. Ask pupils to poke their tongues out and look at
their neighbour’s tongue at the same time. Is it a short
tongue or a long tongue?
2. Split the group into two according to tongue length
(usually about 50:50)
3. Show the pupils a flower
cut-out or pictures of two
differently shaped flowers. One
flower would be better suited to
the short-tongued bees (like the
blue flower above) and the other
to the long-tongued bees (similar
to the yellow flower to the left). Get the pupils to
decide which kind of flower they would prefer based on
the length of their own tongue.
Pollen collecting #1
Aim: For pupils to understand how
bees collect pollen from flowers and
deposit it on other flowers in order to
pollinate them.
Materials: Cotton buds cut in half;
one half for each pupil.
Activity:
1. Explain that on a foraging trip a bee will visit one
kind of flower only which helps with pollination.
2. Choose a flower that is abundant (dandelions work
best with this activity) and demonstrate that by very
gently rubbing the cotton wool stick (bee’s leg) onto the
flower that they can collect pollen. Move to another
dandelion and repeat.
Explain that as pollen is
being collected some is also
being dropped off. The
pupils will be able to see
the yellow pollen that has
collected on the cotton
wool.
3. Pupils should repeat the
exercise using their own
bee’s leg with an emphasis
on being gentle, not
damaging the plants and not
leaving their ‘legs’ behind
as litter.
Pollen collecting #2
Aim: To look at electrostatic forces and gain an understanding of how bees collect pollen
Materials: Balloons, string, a meadow or area of long grass/flowers
Activity:
1. Explain that bees collect pollen on their legs using electrostatic
forces.
2. In groups, get pupils to blow up their balloon and tie it to a long
piece of string. Explain that the balloon is going to act as a bee’s leg.
3. Pupils should rub the balloon on their heads in order to create
electrostatic forces.
4. Demonstrate how the balloon now sticks to clothing and explain that
bees also have this charge on their legs. What do the pupils think will
happen when bees land on flowers?
5. Drag the balloon through the meadow and look to see what has been
collected on its surface. Tiny particles of pollen may be visible.
Make a plant pencil
NB: This activity should only be carried out by practitioners who have experience of using tools with pupils.
Aim: For pupils to feel enthusiastic about filling in the Bee Scene survey card using a pencil that they have made
from plant materials.
Materials: Potato peelers, elder sticks cut to pencil length, tent peg, charcoal sticks
Activity:
1. Demonstrate the pencil making technique to the whole group of pupils and adults. Explain what the materials
being used are, and highlight the links back to plants i.e. Elder is a shrub, charcoal is made from willow that has
been burned without any air and so it doesn’t catch fire.
2. In small groups with an adult supervising, one or two pupils at a time shave the bark from one end of their elder
stick.
3. Use the tent peg to push down the pith to about 4cm at the shaved end.
4. Carefully push in a short length of charcoal (about 1/3 of a standard charcoal stick)
5. Finished pencils are delicate and liable to break. It would be easy to spend all of your session
fixing
broken pencils. Emphasise the need for care and as long as each group has one working pencil it is
adequate. Broken pencils can be fixed before they are taken home.
Shrinking habitats
Aim: For pupils to understand how people impact upon animal habitats.
Materials: A tarpaulin, sheet or similar foldable material.
Activity:
1. Pupils are to pretend to be bees flying around from flower to flower. At a given signal they are to land on the
wildflower meadow (tarpaulin). For the first round there should be enough room for everyone to ‘land’.
2. Set the bees off flying again and tell them that this time part of the meadow has been used to build new
houses. Fold part of the meadow over to make it smaller. Give the signal. Any bees who can’t fit onto the meadow
‘die’.
3. Repeat using different examples of human activity/development e.g. new car park, field ploughed for crop production etc until only a few bees are left.
4. Discuss with the group the impact humans can have on animal habitats. Ask the pupils for suggestions as to
what can we do to ensure there is enough habitat for bees.
Make a set of bee rings
Aim: For pupils to understand how different types of bumblebees prefer different shaped flowers.
Materials: Flower drawings (tube shaped= foxglove; open shape = meadow crane’s bill) and long and short tongued
bee pictures copied onto card, double-sided sticky tape, colouring pencils, scissors
Activity:
1. Remind the group that long tongued bees prefer cone or tubular flowers like foxglove, comfrey and clover and
short tongued bees prefer open flowers like brambles, dog-rose and meadow crane’s bill.
2. Pupils should colour in and cut out the circular flower and bee pictures. Attach the ‘ring’ to the pictures using
double sided tape.
3. Half of the group should wear flower rings and half bee rings. ‘Bees’ should buzz around the ‘meadow’ to find a
flower that they like the best.
4. To check understanding pupils should put a flower ring on one hand and a matching bee on the other. Have they
selected the right flower for their bee to visit?
Use strips of paper
with sticky tape to
make a ring to fit
your finger then stick
your bee on one
finger and matching
flower on the other.
Put double sided
sticky tape on one end
then secure your
circle to it.
Foraging game #1 (KS1)
Aim: To gain an understanding that bees forage and then return to their home before flying out again.
Materials: List of objects such as yellow petal, daisy, dandelion, pink petal, purple petal etc (the list will depend on
the natural materials available in your green space)
Activity:
1. Gather pupils in a cluster or hive and tell them you are going to ask them to go and collect natural items.
2. Choose one pupil each time (or more if the objects they are to find are abundant) to go and collect an object
and bring it back to the group. Send each pupil off in a different direction to collect the item.
3. Repeat this four or five times with different objects and pupils
4. Explain that this is how bees forage. They go out to find one particular plant to collect nectar and pollen from
and then return to the hive with it.
Foraging game #2 (KS2)
Aim: To gain an understanding that bees forage and then return to their home before flying out again.
Materials: Card circles in 4 different colours – red, yellow, white and blue
Activity:
1. Before the activity place the coloured cards around your outdoor space with one colour, for example blue being
placed much further away than the other colours.
2. Divide the group into four teams of bees, each with a different colour. Explain that when foraging, bees will
stick to one kind of flower at a time to collect nectar and pollen from.
3. All of the bees except for one in each team must close their eyes.
4. The first forager for each team flies around the area and spots as many of their team’s coloured cards as
possible but does not collect them.
5. On returning to the hive, the first forager indicates through hand signals where one of the cards is.
6. One bee must then go out and collect that card.
7. On returning, the first forager explains non verbally, to the next bee in the group where another of the cards
is. This bee must then go and try to find it.
8. Repeat until all ten of the coloured cards are found.
9. The blue team will be more exhausted than others as they have had further to forage – use this to think about
why it is important that areas of pollen (flowers) are not widely spread out and how building, farming etc. can
make life tough for bees
Buzzy Bee Song
Aim: An introduction to the survey for younger pupils during which they learn about how bees use flowers to
vide them with food and begin to decide whether their school grounds are a good place for bees or not.
pro-
Materials: Buzzy Bee Song (overleaf) Imaginary bees (you can all pretend to have one by your ear, talking to you)
Activity:
1. At the beginning of the session sing this song through with them twice and ask them why the bee was sad and
what bees need to find to give them power. Talk about nectar and how it is a sweet sticky drink like coca cola that
they drink through their tongue which is hollow like a straw.
2. Explain that they are going to decide whether their school grounds are a good place for bees to live or not. Ask
them for suggestions as to how we can tell is a place is nice for bumblebees e.g. lots of flowers, different flower
colours and shapes.
3. After the session use the second song as a plenary in order to evaluate the learning that has taken place. On the
word ‘your’ of the line ‘Now it is your turn’ point to a pupil who has their hand up and ask them to tell the group
one thing they have learned. Repeat this until all pupils have had a chance to contribute.
4. Use the third song to draw a close to the session.
Buzzy Bee Song
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
D E F# G A
What’s all the fuss?
B B B B A
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
D E F# G A
Have you lost your buzz?
F# D E C# D
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
Feeling all alone
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
Need to find your home
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
Losing all your power
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
Need to find a flower
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
Feeling so much better
Now that you have drunk
Lovely sweet sweet nectar
As a plenary sing this verse.
When a pupil is chosen they have to share something
they have learned today with the rest of the group.
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
What did you learn
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
Now it is your turn
As a close to the session sing this verse
Buzzy Buzzy Bee
Time to say goodbye
I am going to walk
You are going to fly
Urban heat island investigations
The temperature in towns and cities is often warmer than the temperature in
the countryside. This is known as the urban heat island effect. As towns and
cities are warmer, plants will flower earlier in the year and flower for longer.
This means that bumblebees have a longer period of time in which to gather
their pollen and nectar.
You can carry out the following investigations within your school grounds using an area in close
proximity to a school building as the ’urban’ area, and an area further away from the building
e.g. school field, as the ’rural’ area.
Aim: For children to investigate whether towns and cities are warmer than the countryside, to
consider what impact this has on when plants flower and for how long, and the resulting impact
this will have on bumblebees and other pollinators.
Urban heat island investigation #1
Materials: Thermometers
Investigation:
On a warm day in full sun use a thermometer to take the air temperature and ground temperature outside next to the south facing wall of your school building (note do not do this if the area is in the shade).
Now move to the school field and take the air temperature and ground temperature there.

Where were temperature readings higher?

What does this tell you?
Record the information in a table, repeat this experiment on a cold day and compare the results.
Urban heat island investigation #2
Materials: 2 x plastic beakers, measuring jug and water
Investigation:
On a day when a cold night (below freezing) is predicted put a
measured volume of water in a beaker (the beaker should be no
more than two thirds full) and leave it outside your school
building on the ground next to a south facing wall.
Fill another beaker with the same volume of water and leave it
in the middle of your school field. The next day, first thing in
the morning, collect both beakers and see which one has the
most ice in.

Which beaker had the most ice in?

What does this tell you?
Urban heat island investigation #3
Materials: 2 pieces of card 10cm x 10cm (one black and one white or covered in foil), thermometers
Investigation:
The black card represents the buildings in towns and cities and the other piece of card represents the
open
countryside. Place both pieces of card (you will need to weigh them down) in a sunny place in
your school grounds and leave them in full sun for an hour. Then come back and measure the temperature of the card.

Which piece of card was warmer?

Why do you think this is?
Note – this experiment will not work on a breezy day. Do you know why this is?
Urban heat island investigation #4
Materials: 2 x shallow pots, compost, seeds (vegetables or flowers)
Investigation:
In late spring / early summer fill the pots with compost and sow the seeds as instructed on the packet.
We
recommend radish, lettuce or bean as they will germinate quickly.
Place one pot of seeds in full sun in a place that does not get shady next to your school buildings or on
the concrete part of your playground and the other on your school field. Remember to keep watering your
pots regularly and with the same amount of water for a fair test.

In which pot did the seeds germinate first?

Why do you think this is?
To get hold of your Bee Scene resources for 2013 either download them from the website
www.wildaboutplants.org.uk/beescene, or for hard copies email [email protected].
Just let us know the name of your school, how many pupils you will be working with and their key
stage. There are a lot more activity ideas in the education pack which is also available online.
If you work with younger pupils, pupils with
special educational needs or families, you
might like to use the colourful Bee Scene
Botanical Adventures resource which is
available at www.wildaboutplants.org.uk/
beescene. Click on ‘Family Bee Scene’.
For help with planning your outdoor
expeditions take a look at our guide
‘Exploring the Nature on your
Doorstep’. Download it from the
website www.wildaboutplants.org.uk/
resources.