Next time you see a student crunching on an apple or savoring a chocolate bar, remind them that they should thank a pollinator for providing their snack. More than 150 of our common food crops, from avocados to zucchini, rely on pollinators to move pollen among flowers to facilitate fertilization, which ultimately leads to the development of fruits and seeds. Pollination by bees, hummingbirds, moths, bats, butterflies, flies, and beetles ensures the continued existence of millions of plant species, and in turn, of most animal species, including humans – in fact, one of every three mouthfuls of our food depends on them! Most pollinators are small and quiet and may easily be taken for granted, but a process and players so essential to our survival certainly bear some investigation.
The following Pollicator Activity Guide lesson plans offer hands-on activities for understanding and appreciating the dance of flowers and their pollinating partners, and culminates in the planning of a schoolyard pollinator garden. Lessons include: Make a Flower, At Blossoms Restaurant and Planning A Pollinator Garden.
Want to know more?!
Check out the following websites to further support your pollinator explorations:
- National Pollinator Garden Network
- Pollinator Partnership
- Pollinator Partnership EcoRegional Planting Guides
- Pollinator Partnership Learning Center
- Creating a Pollinator Garden
- North American Pollinator Protection Campaign
- Nature’s Partners
- Pollinators, Plants, and You Curriculum from NAPPC
- USDA Forest Service — Pollinators
