Last updated: April 22, 2022
Lesson Plan
Pollination Adaptations: Connecting Habitat and Anatomy
Download Lesson Plan
7016KB
- Grade Level:
- Lower Elementary: Pre-Kindergarten through Second Grade
- Subject:
- Science
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
- State Standards:
- Utah SEEd 4th Grade
Standard 3.2: Effects of Traits on Survival
Standard 3.2.3: Construct an explanation that the environment can affect the traits of an organism. - Additional Standards:
- NGSS 3rd
3-LS3-2. Use evidence to support the explanation that traits can be influenced by the environment
3-LS4-3. Construct an argument with evidence that in a particular habitat some organisms can survive well, some less well, and some not at all. - Thinking Skills:
- Understanding: Understand the main idea of material heard, viewed, or read. Interpret or summarize the ideas in own words. Analyzing: Break down a concept or idea into parts and show the relationships among the parts. Creating: Bring together parts (elements, compounds) of knowledge to form a whole and build relationships for NEW situations.
Essential Question
How does habitat impact animal anatomy?
Objective
Students will be able to understand the connection between pollinator habitat and their anatomy. Specifically, they will be able to look at a bee and draw conclusions about how that bee gathers food and builds a home.
Background
This lesson plan is designed to support teachers in teaching third grade students how an environment can affect the traits of an organism. As students explore each activity, they will develop a deeper understanding of how varied habitats can influence species diversity. Activities include an educational video on how to get the perfect bee body in which a ranger describes and explains each body part: What it is, what it might look like, and why that body part is important based on the environment. As students watch the video, they can follow along and fill out a worksheet labeling a bee’s body parts. At the end of the activity, the worksheet provides an easy opportunity for the teacher to check for understanding about bee anatomy.
Once students have a basic understanding of bee body parts, they can design their own bee based around a specific Zion habitat. Students can be as creative as they like—as long as they provide an explanation for how their bee is able to survive in its Zion habitat! Example images are provided of various bee species found in Zion National Park to help further foster real-world connections between habitat and body parts.
At the end of the lesson, students will be able to connect bee anatomy to certain aspects of their habitat. They will also understand how body parts impact a species’ ability to survive in a certain habitat.
Preparation
- Download lesson plan and activity guide
- Print activity materials and worksheets
- Gather supplies listed in activities
- Link for How to Get the Perfect Bee Body Video (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Materials
Pollination Adaptation: Connecting Habitat and Anatomy
Download Lesson Plan and Activity Guide
Lesson Hook/Preview
Have you ever wondered why bees are so fuzzy? Or how they’re able to find flowers and then travel back to their nests? Or even wanted to know why bees are such good pollinators? In this lesson plan, students will have the opportunity to explore the answers to each of those questions, and more!
Procedure
Follow suggested procedures in the activity guide.
Vocabulary
- Pollinator: An animal that carries pollen from the stamen of a flower to the stigma of either the same flower or another flower.
- Habitat: The place where an organism makes its home. A habitat provides food, water, shelter, air, and any other environmental conditions the animal needs to survive.
- Trait: A specific characteristic of an organism.
- Adaptation: The biological mechanism by which an organism adjusts to new environments or changes in its current envrionment.
- Bee: An insect in the superfamily Apocrita. Bees are differentiated from other insects by their relatively hairy bodies, two sets of wings, five eyes, segmented antennae, and nine segmented abdomen.
Additional Resources
These web pages are also good resources for addition information: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/pollinators/index.htmhttps://www.xerces.org/
The following are books used as sources for the background sections of the lesson plan. They are also good resources for additional information
The Bees in Your Backyard by Joseph S. Wilson and Olivia Messinger Carril. 2016.
The Bee: A Natural History by Noah Wilson-Rich. 2014.