Pollinators

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.

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Contents:

• Activity 1 - Who’s that Pollinator?

• Activity 2 - Pollinators Put Food on

the Table

Worksheets:• Pollinators Put Food on

the Thanksgiving Table

Handouts:• Plant Reproduction• Pollination Methods• Pollinators Put Food on

the Table

Estimated Teaching Time:• Activity 1: 45 minutes• Activity 2: 30 minutes

Grade Level: 3-5Academic Area(s): Science, Language ArtsTopic(s): Life Science, Earth Science, Speaking and Listening

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.

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 pol-linated 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 Kan-sas include bees, wasps, moths and butterflies.

www.ksagclassroom.org

Pollinators

Rev. 9/15

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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 provid-ing 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 PollinatorWheat WindGrain Sorghum WindCorn WindSoybeans BeesAlfalfa BeesSunflowers BeesCotton Bees

Important FactsInsects 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 mam-mals.

Flowering Stages

Pollinators Background Information and Facts

Wheat

Corn

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Pollinators

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.

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.

Vocabulary List

PetalStamen

Pistil

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Pollinators Student Handout Pollination Methods - Page 1

Wind: Wind-pollinated plants do not rely on bright colors or smells to attract pollinators. The wind pol-linates 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 pol-len 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 flow-ers 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 ferment-ing 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 pol-linated by flies are maroon with unpleasant odors. As flies lay their eggs in flowers, they also deposit pollen.

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Pollinators Student HandoutPollination Methods - Page 2

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.

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Preparation:Collect a number of sample flowers from the florist, garden or school yard and bring them into the classroom. Gather pictures of different pol-linators 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.

Pollinators Who’s that Pollinator?Student Activity - Page 1

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 pol-linate

• 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

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Background Information:The following are foods that insects pollinate:

• Trees: - apple, pear, peach, apricot, nectarine, cherry, plum, quince, persimmon, pawpaw, English walnut• Shrubs and vines: - blueberry, huckleberry, gooseberry, currant, cranberry, grape, black raspberry, red raspberry and blackberry • Perennials: - strawberry• Annual fruits and vegetables: - beans, cantaloupe, cucumber, eggplant, pea, pepper, pumpkin, summer squash, tomatillos, tomatoes, watermelon, winter squash, zucchini• 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.

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.

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.

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.

Pollinators Pollinators Put Food on the Table Student Activity - Page 1

Materials:• Paper plates (one per

student)• Elastic band, string or

pipe cleaner (one per student)

• Pictures of fruits and veg-etables that originated as flowers (from magazines or printed out)

• Glue • Scissors• 25-30 pony beads per

student

Finished Project

Back

Front

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Pollinators Student HandoutPollinators Put Food on the Table - Page 1

Apples

Peaches

Blueberries

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Pollinators Student HandoutPollinators Put Food on the Table - Page 2

Pumpkins

Soybeans

Sunflowers

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Pollinators Student WorksheetPollinators Put Food on the Thanksgiving Table

Name: _____________________________________________

Pollinators Put Food on the Thanksgiving TableMany 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!)

A. Wind B. Bees

1. _____ coffee

2. _____ apple pie

3. _____ corn

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

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Pollinators Student WorksheetPollinators Put Food on the Thanksgiving Table

ANSWER KEY

Pollinators Put Food on the Thanksgiving TableMany 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!)

A. Wind B. Bees

1. __B__ coffee

2. __B__ apple pie

3. __A__ corn

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

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Pollinators Want More? Resources & Extensions

Extensions:

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.

Recommended Resources:

Kansas Foundation for Agriculture in the Class-room (KFAC): www.ksagclassroom.org. Look for other lesson plans, resource materials and teach-er 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 Con-servation Districts:Local Heroes – Your Hard-working Pollinators – check out the educator guide, post-ers and more! http://www.nacdnet.org/education/resources/local-heroes

The Pollinator Partnership:Learning Center: www.polli-nator.org/education.htm