Our Honeybee Unit

Elementary Social Studies Method – Project Plan Kindergarten Unit Overview

Table of Contents
Class Description..............................................................3

Overview..........................................................................4

Lesson Plans.....................................................................5

Lesson Plan 1: Introduction to Honeybees.......................5-6

Lesson Plan 2: Honeybees Lifecycle…………................7

Lesson Plan 3: Busy Bees………………….....................8

Assessment Rubric………………………………………9

Resource Critique………………………………………10

Craft Example..................................................................11-13

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Class description

We had the pleasure of being assigned to a friendly and amusing group of

kindergartners who were very diverse in their background and in their learning abilities.
Our kindergarten class consisted of 22 students: 6 ELL studentsà Chinese, Korean,
Spanish, and Philippines. We noticed during our Bee Lifecycle lesson plan that the
students in our class worked hard to express their thoughts and ideas in English.
Although the students are not able to read and write fully yet, most of them are able to
recognize letters and make inferences on what the word may be. There is one student who
was able to read quickly, so we adapted our lesson by allowing a student to be our helper.
This prevented the student from reading quickly ahead of the other students. We greatly
enjoyed teaching this group because not only were they an energetic group, but also they
were also very eager and determined to learn.

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Overview

Our first visit in our school advisors (SA) class was very welcoming. We were
inspired by our SA’s classroom because it provided students with rich learning
opportunities, such as animal bones, surrounded the students, fur, part of a wasps nest.
We had a great conversation with our SA about how she collected these pieces that made
the classroom greatly diverse. Our SA shared with us that growing up she was always on
the move with her family and was used to collecting corpses of animals, while waiting for
them to degrade, and cleaned them thoroughly. We had a great interest in the real life
learning applications because one of us did an undergrad in Archaeology, so being
exposed to bones once again felt like a treat. After speaking with out SA, we decided to
do our unit project plan on Honeybees.

The first lesson that we delivered was a lesson on what the students knew about
Bees. Our hook for our lesson was showing the students a part of a wasp’s nest to
promote scaffolding, which will help students, activate their prior knowledge. When he
held up the wasp’s nest, all the students’ attention was directed towards us. Not only was
this a great way to get the students engaged and active by learning how to make
inferences and observations about the wasp’s nest, but the students also learned the
importance of a bee’s role in their community. Throughout our lesson plan, enactivism
was present. For instance, students were shown a part of an interior wasp nest, which
helped them gain an understanding of where bees live and deposit their honey. Also
students acted out the poem by participating and following us in kinesthetic movements.
Our first lesson plan was a success and we were looking forward to the next time we get
to work with the Kindergarten students.

The second and third lessons were both executed on March 11, 2016. In our
previous class we introduced students to bees. Two weeks had gone by since we taught
the students, so we decided that we should do a quick review activity. We began our
second lesson by using a chart paper and we drew a bee, where the bee’s legs were used
as pointers to write down the brainstorm ideas the students came up with. We will ask
students what they remember/know about bees. Our first lesson plan was a Bee Hive
activity. This activity was to engage students in writing about the lifecycle of a bee. The
students wrote the stages underneath their images: adult, pupa, larva, egg. Following the
written activity, the students got to color the beehive and glue on the bees that we created
last class. Lastly, the students shared their diagrams and went through the sequence of the
bee life cycle with a partner next to them at their table. The students Honeybee project
was complete and these lesson included a variety of activities, which the students
thoroughly enjoyed. During this lesson, we assessed the students through our
observations of their participation and how involved and engaged they were in the
activities.

To conclude the Honeybee unit, our third lesson was a wrap up of the roles that
each honeybee helper fulfills. The goal of the game is for the students to collect honey
(pom pom balls) and move them to designated targets (queen bee, drone, beehive). The
students were engaged in playing a Busy Bee game that was a fun way to end the unit!

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Lesson # 1– Honeybees
Grade: Kindergarten Subject: Science and Art
Date: February 26, 2016 Time: 35 minutes
Big Ideas
Science: Plants and animals have observable features
Lesson Objectives:
SWBAT
• Share with others information obtained by observing
• Describe features of bees
• Demonstrate curiosity and a sense of wonder about the world
How I Will Teach This Assessment
Materials: Hook: (2 minutes) Formative
• Chart paper that has lyrics for our Show a stuffed animal of a bee OR show the Assessment FOR
poem students the interior of the wasp nest that is learning
• Construction paper in the classroom. Ask students what they For
• Pipe cleaners remember – engage prior knowledge. - Observation of
• Markers behaviour and
• Poem participation in
• Bee diagram discussion and
activities
• Beehive
-Checklist of students
• Googley eyes
names and objectives,
Lesson Overview: with comment section
Introduction (5 minutes) for note-taking during
1. At carpet, today we are going to start learning about bees. What do you know about lesson
bees? What do they look like? Where do they live? What do they do? -Give immediate
2. Hold up the bee diagram feedback throughout
activities
Show a Visual to the Students (15 minutes) -Follow-up during
3. A large labeled diagram of a bee with its different body parts center time
-Take detailed notes
after lesson for
reflecting future
planning

As: Students give

thumbs up/down for
understanding

Assessment OF
learning
Of: Ask students to
stand up and teachers
will ask, “where are
4. Read Every Insect by Dorothy Aldis. Discuss each and its purpose. the wings on a bee?”
5. During the poem the students will be asked to act out the poemàkinesthetic We will check if
students are pointing
movement and lyrics will be written on a large chart paper
to the correct parts of
6. Sing the poem
the bee. Ask students
Art Activity (10 minutes) – the bee body, and antennas will be pre-cut so students will
individually “are
only be piecing the art activity together
those stripes?” and
7. Students will be asked to return to seats to complete a craft representation of a bee.
we will point to the
8. Demonstrate to the students: how to make a bee out of construction paper and pipe
wings and this will
cleaners.

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 help us see if students
Closure (3 minutes) will correct us or not.
9. Review what we have learned today Collect work
completed.
Enactivism
v The students classroom is a diverse and rich environment with many skeletal
remains of animals and animal hide – physical material that students can see and
touch= activating the senses
v Students will act out the poem by participating and following Eric and I in
kinesthetic movements
v Students will be shown a part of an interior wasp nest, which will help them gain
an understanding of where bees live and deposit their honey

Resources:
Every Insect by Dorothy Aldis
o A poem
o Strengths: the poem was a gateway for us to do kinesthetic movements with the
students, especially with student who needed to channel their energy towards
something
o Cautious: We were doing a lesson on bees and the poem is more general, and this could
confuse the students
Extension:
• Create a book about the lifecycle of a bee. They will share their book and
go through the sequence of the bee life cycle with a partner next to them
at their table.
• Show a clip from “The Bee Movie”

Adaptations:
• Pre-cut honeybee body’s and antennas

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Lesson # 2– Honeybees Lifecycle
Grade: Kindergarten Subject: Science and Art
Date: March 11, 2016 Time: 35 minutes
Big Ideas
Science: Plants and animals have observable features
Lesson Objectives:
SWBAT
• Demonstrate understanding of the lifecycle of the honeybee
• Share with others information obtained by observing
How I Will Teach This Assessment
Materials: Hook: (5 minutes) Formative
• Diagrams of a bee life cycle In our previous class we introduced students Assessment FOR
• Crayons to bees. On a chart paper we will draw a bee learning
• Pencils and use the legs to write down the brainstorm - Observation of
• Chart paper ideas the students come up with. We will ask behaviour and
• Laptop students what they know about bees. participation in
• Pre-cut bee hives discussion and
activities
• Black construction paper
- We will be checking
Lesson Overview:
to see if students are
Introduction (10 minutes)
on task and using
1. Today we will begin our lesson by reading A Bee’s Life by Sue Onstead. their tools
2. Discuss the bee life cycle using image representations that will be placed on a board. appropriately.
3. We will show the students one picture at a time and tell them the word that associates
with the picture. We will have the students repeat after us. E.g. we will say larva and As: Students give
the students will repeat larva thumbs up/down for
understanding
A Bee Hive activity (10 minutes)
1. Students will return to their seats and write about the lifecycle of a bee. Assessment OF
2. Students will engage in writing the stages underneath their images: adult, learning
pupa, larva, egg - Assessment of
3. Students will color the bee hive and glue on the bees that we created last learning will be
class determined by the
4. They will share their diagrams and go through the sequence of the bee students completed
life cycle with a partner next to them at their table. work. E.g. the final
Critical thinking – comparison product of the bee
5. Difference between a bee and a wasp life cycle project.
Enactivism
v Show students images of a honeybee lifecycle – visual
v Hands on – a bee hive activity: students will color a bee hive and glue it
on to a piece of black construction paper

Resources:
Watch it grow: A Bee’s Life by Nancy Dickmann

Extension:
o A game to help students learn the difference between a wasp and a bee
o Pollen transfer: Students will be given a display that resembles a bee hive, so they can
carry pollen from flowers to the drone bees and the queen bees
Adaptations
Pre-cut bee hive and color the bee hive yellow

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Lesson # 3– Busy bees
Grade: 6/7 Subject: Science and P.E.
Date: March 11, 2016 Time: 35 minutes
Big Ideas
Science: Plants and animals have observable features
Lesson Objectives:
SWBAT
• Understand the relationship between bees and flowers
• Understand the importance of community – building on Tara’s and Lisa’s lessons
• Understand pollination
How I Will Teach This Assessment
Materials: Hook: (3:30 minutes) Formative
• Pom-pom balls Show a YouTube clip of Bees Assessment FOR
• 2-3 buckets or mini cups Why do we Need Bees? learning
• Labels: bee hive, queen bee, and - Observation of
drone bee behaviour and
participation in
Lesson Overview:
discussion and
Introduce the relation between a flower and a bee (10 minutes)
activities
1. A flower is a seed factory. A flower and a bee have a strong, vital connection with - We will be checking
each other. Without this connection the flower cannot manufacture seeds and bee to see if students are
would not have food. We would not have any food, either. The bee pollinates the on task and using
flower. their tools
2. Show students a picture of a flowerà identify the petals and sepals appropriately.
3. Who are the pollinators? A pollinator is anything that helps carry flower pollen to the
Assessment OF
beehive. learning
Cheetos demonstration (5 minutes) - The students
1. Demo what pollination looks like using a bag of Cheetos understand the
2. Teacher will tell student to imagine their thumb/fingers are like pollinators (bees) and concept of the game.
the powder is the pollen Students are
3. Teacher will transfer the Cheetos powder from the bag to the bee hive collecting the pom
pom balls (pollen)
4. If time permitted, allow a couple of students to volunteer and try it out
and placing it in the
Busy Bee Game (10-12 minutes) mini cups.
1. Teacher will go over expectations before explaining the game
2. Teacher will explain the rules of the games and demo for the students what they will
be doing
3. The goal of the game is for the students to collect honey (pom pom balls) and move
them to designated targets (queen bee, drone, beehive)
4. Start off with groups coming up and moving honey to a certain target
5. Then shift to game where teacher calls out location for honey to be placed in
Resources:
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CxCTyxRFh0
http://www.kidsgardening.org/node/11422
Extension:
• The location of the targets will change overtime with obstacles in the way
• Play red light, green light with the students while they are transferring pollen
Adaptations:
• The students will walk in slow motion to drop off the pom-pom balls
• Making buzzing sounds like bees

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Assessment Rubric:

The assessment rubric can be assessed with both the student and the teacher together to
clarify what each level means. The lower end is the bee and as the students understanding
grows, they morph into a larva and eventually into a bee.

Egg Larvae Bee

I do not completely I understand some things I learned a lot about bees but I
understand what we about bees and I will can always learn more about
learned about bees continue to learn more. them!
but I am working
hard to get better!

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Resource Critique

Bees, Flowers, and Pollination. (n.d.). Retrieved March 4, 2016, from

http://www.kidsgardening.org/node/11422
We used this website as a resource to gain some personal knowledge for ourselves while
we were teaching. The website had good information about bees, flowers, and
pollination. Once we saw this site we came up with our idea to do our third lesson plan
on having the students become the busy worker bees and going out and collecting pollen.
Refer to lesson plan #3.

Dickmann, N. (2010). Watch it grow: A bee's life. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library.
Watch it grow: A Bee’s Life is a book by Nancy Dickmann. We chose to use this book
because in our SA’s classroom, the students are exposed to real images as opposed to
cartoon images. The benefit of using a book with real images was that the book caught all
of the student’s attention. The student’s eyes followed as we shifted the book across the
range of students, so they all had a chance to focus in. The book had large bold words
that were visible to all students; it was simple, and easy to follow. The only critique we
had for the book was that it did not clearly state the 3rd stage of the bee life cycle, which
is pupa. The book consists of the egg, larvae, and an adult bee. Once we finished reading
the book, we informed the students immediately about the third stage. Overall, the book
was a great read and the students enjoyed it.

Every Insect by Dorothy Aldis

Every Insect by Dorothy Aldis is a poem that we used for our first lesson to introduce
general characteristics of insects. The Strengths of the poem were that it served as a
gateway for us to integrate kinesthetic movements into our lesson plan. This aspect of our
lesson was important, especially with students who needed an outlet for their energy. A
weakness that we noted was that we were doing a lesson on bees and the poem is directed
towards insects in general, and this could confuse the students.

Why do we Need Bees? (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2016, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CxCTyxRFh0
For our third lesson, we decided to incorporate technology. Using our laptop we
presented a short YouTube clip called, Why do we Need Bees? The implementation of
technology in our lesson was the perfect way to bring in all of the students attention.
Students who had a difficult time keeping their hands to themselves also gave us their
undivided attention when we told them “…next we will be watching a video clip on
Bees.” The YouTube video, why do we need bees? was a student friendly resource that
presented Earth Ranger Jovanna chatting with Dr. John Purdy to learn all about the
importance of bees. The students were engaged because this video represented a young
student asking a teacher questions about bees. The students were able to relate to the
video. Also the video incorporated a few cartoon images that the students liked. We felt
that this YouTube video was a great resource to use with our Kindergarten class.

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Craft Examples:

A wasp’s nest

Craft from Lesson 1

Collection of the crafts from Lesson 1

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Lesson 2: Learning About the Bee’s Life Cycle – Art project complete

Lesson 3: Flowers containing “pollen”

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Lesson 3: Students are busy bees collecting pollen to take back to the
Bee Hive

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