Pollinators
Pollinators
Grade Level: 3-5
Academic Area(s): Science, Language Arts
Topic(s): Life Science, Earth Science, Speaking
and Listening
www.ksagclassroom.org
Overview: Plants provide food, shelter and oxygen for other living
things. Reproduction in plants is crucial to all other life on this planet.
The first step in plant reproduction is the process called pollination.
There are many kinds of pollinators including insects, birds, wind and
water.
Objectives:
The student will:
1. Identify pollinators for important food crops.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of pollinator behavior and the importance
of pollinators in the production of human food crops.
3. Model pollination of a flower by a pollinator.
Contents:
Rev. 9/15
• Activity 1 Who’s that Pollinator?
• Activity 2 Pollinators Put Food on
the Table
Worksheets:
• Pollinators Put Food on
the Thanksgiving Table
Background Information and Facts:
Pollination occurs when grains of pollen are transferred from the
male reproductive organ of a flower to the female reproductive organ
of a flower and fertilization occurs. Depending on the plant species,
pollination on the same flower or flowers of a single plant can occur
(self-pollination) or pollination takes place between different plants
(cross-pollination).
Some flowers are pollinated by wind or water while others are pollinated by insects or animals. Approximately 90 percent of all plant
species depend on animal or insect pollinators, mainly insects. In
addition to converting energy from the sun into food for people and
animals, plants filter air and water, prevent soil erosion, and convert
carbon dioxide into oxygen. Pollinated plants produce food and cover
for wildlife as well as egg laying and nesting sites for many insects
like butterflies. Pollinators that are important to ecosystems in Kansas include bees, wasps, moths and butterflies.
Page 1
Handouts:
• Plant Reproduction
• Pollination Methods
• Pollinators Put Food on
the Table
Estimated Teaching Time:
• Activity 1: 45 minutes
• Activity 2: 30 minutes
Pollinators
Background Information and Facts
Insects and animals pollinate approximately 75 percent of the plants
grown worldwide for food, fiber, beverages and medicines. There are
over 100,000 species of pollinators that play an essential role in providing food for people. This includes Kansas crops like alfalfa and soybeans
that are fed to livestock. The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
estimates that about one-third of the food eaten by people in the U. S.
comes from plants and trees pollinated by insects. Honeybees alone are
responsible for 80% of that pollination.
The wind pollinates many important agricultural crops including
wheat, corn, and rice which are the most important sources of calories
in diets worldwide. Kansas crops like wheat, corn and grain sorghum
are all members of the grass family of plants. These plants do not have
large showy flowers to attract insects, animals or birds. These plants
produce very large amounts of pollen, which is distributed by the wind
and plant movements.
Crops and Pollination Methods
Crop
Wheat
Grain Sorghum
Corn
Soybeans
Alfalfa
Sunflowers
Cotton
Important Facts
Insects and animals pollinate
approximately 75 percent of
the plants grown worldwide
for food, fiber, beverages and
medicines.
There are over 100,000
species of pollinators.
Approximately one-third of
the food consumed by people
in the U.S. comes from plants
and trees that were pollinated
by insects.
About 1,000 of all pollinators
are vertebrates including bats,
birds and other small mammals.
Flowering Stages
Pollinator
Wind
Wind
Wind
Bees
Bees
Bees
Bees
Wheat
Page 2
Corn
Pollinators
Vocabulary List
Pollination: The act of transferring grains of pollen from the male reproductive organs (stamen) to the female reproductive organs (pistil) of a flower; necessary for a plant or tree to produce seeds and reproduce.
Pollinator: An agent that moves pollen, including the wind, water, and an animal like a bee, bat, butter- fly, moth or other insect.
Pollen: The microscopic, powder-like grains produced by the male reproductive organs of a flower.
Annual plant: A plant that completes its life cycle in one year or one growing season.
Examples: sunflower, wheat and corn.
Perennial plant: A plant that lives for more than two years. Examples: alfalfa, rose and daisy.
Pistil
Petal
Stamen
Petal: Protect some parts of the flower and attracts or repels specific pollinators.
Anther: Part of the stamen that produces pollen.
Stamen: Male reproductive oragan that contains the anther and filament.
Pistil: Contains the female reproductive organs of a flower.
Page 3
Student Handout
Pollination Methods - Page 1
Pollinators
Wind: Wind-pollinated plants do not rely on bright
colors or smells to attract pollinators. The wind pollinates all grasses, most trees and many agricultural
crops like wheat, corn and grain sorghum. Most
of these plants produce flowers that are long and
feathery, which allows the wind to blow the pollen off one flower and lets it fall on or be caught by
another flower. Plants pollinated by wind produce
high quantities of lightweight pollen but most of the
pollen never reaches its intended destination and
does not result in pollination.
Bees: Bees are attracted to nectar, pollen and the
sweet fragrance of flowers. Bees generally visit flowers that are white, yellow, lavender or blue. Flowers
that attract bees provide a landing platform and
have markings that act as a guide to the nectar for
the bees. They collect pollen from one flower and
carry it on their bodies to another flower.
Bats: Bats are important pollinators, too. Over 300
species of fruit depend on bats for pollination. The
flowers that bats feed on are open at night, pale or
white and very fragrant with a fruit-like or fermenting odor. Bats also feed on the insects in the flowers
as well as on the nectar.
Flies: Flies are attracted to stinky smells; some are
also attracted to nectar. Some flowers that are pollinated by flies are maroon with unpleasant odors.
As flies lay their eggs in flowers, they also deposit
pollen.
Page 4
Student Handout
Pollination Methods - Page 2
Pollinators
Beetles: Beetles are attracted to large, bowl-shaped
flowers. They only feed on pollen - not on nectar.
While they feed, they crawl over the flowers spreading
the pollen that attaches to their bodies.
Butterfly: Butterflies spread pollen as they move
from one flower to another in search of nectar.
They perch on a flower and have a long tongue that
acts like a straw as they drink the nectar. Butterflies
prefer flowers with strong perfumes and brilliant
colors like red, pink, orange, blue or yellow.
Moths: Moths are generally attracted to flowers that
are white or pale, visible during the night and very
fragrant. Moths tend to pollinate during the night
but some types pollinate during the day. They use
their long tongues to gather nectar from tubular
flowers. Moths often pollinate flowers like orchids.
Birds: Most birds have a poor sense of smell and
the flowers that attract them may not have a strong
smell. The shapes of the flowers that attract birds
are often long tubes that grow sideways or droop
instead of standing upright.
Page 5
Who’s that Pollinator?
Student Activity - Page 1
Pollinators
Preparation:
Collect a number of sample flowers from the florist, garden or school
yard and bring them into the classroom. Gather pictures of different pollinators and the flowers they prefer to visit. Also provide a wide variety
of different materials to allow students to construct a new flower.
Procedures:
1. Using the images included in the lesson plan, introduce students to a variety of pollinators. Discuss the types of flowers that attract each of the pollinators and how they collect pollen and nectar.
2. Divide students into small groups and gives each group a
variety of flowers to investigate. Group members should look for flower parts like pistil, stamen and petals as they dissect the flower. Have the groups discuss what pollinators might be attracted to the flowers and why.
3. Challenge each group to design a flower that would attract a specific pollinator. Suggest that each group member create a drawing of a potential flower and that the group chooses one flower from the drawings to construct. Encourage them to identify parts of the flower.
4. Provide the groups with a variety of materials so that each group can construct their new flower.
5. Each group will present their flower to the class without saying which pollinator it’s attracting. (Groups may tell a story or act out the
pollination process) After the presentations, the class will guess the pollinator that each flower is meant to attract.
Page 6
Materials:
• Samples of a variety
of flowers with varied
shapes, sizes and colors
(obtain from florist or
garden)
• Images of pollinators and
the flowers that they pollinate
• Pencil and paper
• Scissors
• Markers or paint
• Tissue paper, felt or
fabric
• Clay, glue or tape
• Pom poms
• Pipe cleaners
• Glitter glue
• Other materials that
students could use to
construct flowers
Finished Project
Pollinators
Pollinators Put Food on the Table
Student Activity - Page 1
Background Information:
Materials:
The following are foods that insects pollinate:
• Paper plates (one per
• Trees:
student)
- apple, pear, peach, apricot, nectarine, cherry, plum, quince,
• Elastic band, string or
persimmon, pawpaw, English walnut
pipe cleaner (one per
• Shrubs and vines:
student)
- blueberry, huckleberry, gooseberry, currant, cranberry, grape, • Pictures of fruits and veg
black raspberry, red raspberry and blackberry
etables that originated as
• Perennials:
flowers (from magazines
- strawberry
or printed out)
• Annual fruits and vegetables:
• Glue
- beans, cantaloupe, cucumber, eggplant, pea, pepper, pumpkin, • Scissors
summer squash, tomatillos, tomatoes, watermelon, winter squash, • 25-30 pony beads per
zucchini
student
• Seeds:
- mustard, dill, pumpkin, soybean and sunflower
Procedures:
1. Use the background information to explain to students about
pollination and its importance to food production.
Finished Project
2. Explain to students that they will be keeping track of the number of times over the next 24 hours they eat a product that grew from a flower requiring insect pollination.
Front
3. Provide each student with a paper plate. Instruct the students to glue pictures from magazines or printed pictures of different fruits and vegetables on the front of their plates.
4. Assist students in cutting two notches in their plates that are
directly across from each other.
5. Ask each student to string 25-30 beads on the elastic, string or pipe cleaners and tie the ends together so it forms a circle.
6. Ask students to loop the circle of beads around the plate and onto the notches. The beads should be tight against the plate and positioned on the back of the plate.
Back
7. Inform students that over the next 24 hours everytime they eat a
fruit or vegetable that grew from a flower pollinated by an insect, they should move one bead from the back of the plate to the front (The col-
ors of the beads do not have to match the colors of the fruits or veg-
etables they eat.)
8. The following day, ask students to count the number of beads they moved to the front of their plates and discuss the fruits and vegetables they ate.
Page 7
Student Handout
Pollinators Put Food on the Table - Page 1
Pollinators
Apples
Peaches
Blueberries
Page 8
Student Handout
Pollinators Put Food on the Table - Page 2
Pollinators
Pumpkins
Soybeans
Sunflowers
Page 9
Student Worksheet
Pollinators Put Food on the Thanksgiving Table
Pollinators
Name: ­_____________________________________________
Pollinators Put Food on the Thanksgiving Table
Many of the foods eaten on Thanksgiving Day required pollinators in order to be produced. Write the
letter of the correct pollinator in the blank for each food. Each pollinator will be used more than once.
(Hint: you may be required to do some additional research on your own!)
1. _____ coffee
3. _____ corn
A. Wind
B. Bees
2. _____ apple pie
4. _____ butter (a dairy product from dairy cows that eat alfalfa)
5. _____ green beans
6. _____ roll (made with wheat flour)
7. _____ ham (a pork product from pigs that eat soybean meal – a coproduct of
extracting oil from soybeans)
8. _____ ice cream (a dairy product from dairy cows that eat alfalfa)
9. _____ turkey (a poultry product from turkeys that eat corn, oats and other grains)
10. ____­­_ pumpkin pie
Page 10
Student Worksheet
Pollinators Put Food on the Thanksgiving Table
Pollinators
ANSWER KEY
Pollinators Put Food on the Thanksgiving Table
Many of the foods eaten on Thanksgiving Day required pollinators in order to be produced. Write the
letter of the correct pollinator in the blank for each food. Each pollinator will be used more than once.
(Hint: you may be required to do some additional research on your own!)
1. __B__ coffee
3. __A__ corn
A. Wind
B. Bees
2. __B__ apple pie
4. __B__ butter (a dairy product from dairy cows that eat alfalfa)
5. __B__ green beans
6. __A__ roll (made with wheat flour)
7. __B__ ham (a pork product from pigs that eat soybean meal – a coproduct of
extracting oil from soybeans)
8. __B__ ice cream (a dairy product from dairy cows that eat alfalfa)
9. __A__ turkey (a poultry product from turkeys that eat corn, oats and other grains)
10. __B_­­_ pumpkin pie
Page 11
Pollinators
Want More? Resources & Extensions
Extensions:
Recommended Resources:
Social Studies:
• Find county agricultural statistics on the state map found at http://agriculture.ks.gov/about-ksda/kansas-agriculture.
• Scroll down to the Kansas map and click on your county to
discover the major crops grown in your county.
Math:
• Use this link to find your county’s agricultural profile:
http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2012/Online_Re
sources/County_Profiles/Kansas/
• Analyze the graphs in your county’s profile.
• Determine the top crops grown in your county.
• Determine pollination methods and pollinators needed for major crops produced in your county.
Technical Writing:
• Write two paragraphs:
1. If I were a pollinator, I would be a ____________.
Discuss the main characteristics of that pollinator.
2. I would be attracted to flowers on the __________ plant.
Explain why you would be attracted to that type of flower.
Page 12
Kansas Foundation for
Agriculture in the Classroom (KFAC):
www.ksagclassroom.org.
Look for other lesson plans,
resource materials and teacher training opportunities!
“Exploring Plants: Kansas
Crops Educator’s Guide” Look
in the index for pollination,
pollinators and honey.
Kids Connection: “Partners in
Agriculture: A Pollinator
Party” – a student magazine.
National Association of Conservation Districts:
Local Heroes – Your Hardworking Pollinators – check
out the educator guide, posters and more!
http://www.nacdnet.org/
education/resources/localheroes
The Pollinator Partnership:
Learning Center: www.pollinator.org/education.htm