Getting the buzz on the value of bees
Activities
Other activities
Screen Australia
Honeybee Blues – Teachers Notes A fantastic group of educational activities that accompanies the ‘Honeybee Blues’ documentary see Useful Sites which explains the story of the world’s disappearing bees and Dr Denis Anderson’s ground breaking Australian research on the Varroa mite. Curriculum links include Science (Biology, Agriculture) and the Environment, but also Business Studies, English, Careers and Media Studies.
Australian Horticultural Association
This will give you a buzz about the honey industry A comprehensive and well designed activity pack about honey bees in Australia and the services they provide. It has been produced by National Curriculum Services for grade 3-5 primary students and also contains teacher's notes.
Nature Works - Discovery Education (USA)
Bee Detective - Discover the Culprit Behind Declining Bee Populations Students investigate the loss of bees from colony collapse disorder and try to discover the reasons behind their decline. It includes a full lesson plan, teachers guide and powerpoint slides. Aimed at students in grade 6-8.
The National Honey Board (USA)
The Honey files: A bees life An excellent and comprehensive collection of printable activities and student exercises, aimed at students in grade 4-6. Includes an educator's overview for teaching many different aspects of honeybee science, as well as student games, worksheets, activities and recipes. (Direct link to pdf.)
The education site also links to educational brochure and information guide downloads.
University of Arizona (USA)
Africanized Honey Bees on the Move Contains a range of different activities and lesson plans that are categorised into different class age groups (ranging from K-12). Produced in the USA with a focus on Africanised honeybees, but also contains many examples of activities and worksheets that can be used to explore honeybee biology.
the site also includes:
Body parts of a bee - A detailed information sheet about a bee's anatomical characteristics
Honey bee senses- A lesson plan that explores a honeybee's sense of smell and the link between taste and odours.
Queensland Education
Bees and Honey A sample home education unit suitable for upper primary students that involves many useful ideas for incorporating honeybee knowledge into different subject disciplines, including Science, Mathematics, English, Technology and Health.
PBS Television (USA)
Tales from the hive A series of informative and interactive activity pages that includes short online videos. It also also includes links to pages with lots of scientific facts about bees, how they dance to communicate a food source to other forager bees and the anatomy of a hive. Students can also try to interactively interpret a bee's waggle dance online.
42Xplore (USA)
Bees An American site that contains basic information about bees and lots of links to lesson ideas, teacher resources, children's activities and further reading.
The Cooperative Extension System (USA)
Plants and Animals, Partners in Pollination In this university reviewed activity, students investigate the complementary relationships between pollinators and the plants they pollinate and identify adaptations that flowers have developed to "encourage" pollination. Includes printable activities and a lesson plan.
CSIRO
What a bee sees. CSIRO Scientriffic - Teachers notes. Accompanies the March - April 2011 edition of Scientriffic that includes a special feature about honeybees and pollination. (Curriculum Links: Science Understanding - Years 5 and 7 biological science.)
About insects Contains lots of information about Australian insects including factsheets about their biology and control.
Andy Giger
B-Eye An interactive online activity that allows the user to see the world through the compound eyes of a bee using a computer mouse.
Hein Bijlmakers (USA)
Insect body parts A simple fun interactive webpages that allows younger children to learn more about the different parts of an insect's body.
Beekeepers association of the ACT Quiz
Bee Quiz A series of short online quizzes produced by the ACT Beekeepers association, designed to test the users general knowledge on honeybees and beekeeping.
Anglia Co-operative Society (UK)
Minibeasts worksheets Ten worksheets for primary school children ranging from bee anatomy to how they compare to other common garden insects. Includes a printable insect card game.
Capilano Honey
Kids Stuff & Educational Activities An Australian site of bee related activities for younger children that includes puzzles, quizzes, colouring in and teacher notes.
Enchanted Learning (USA)
Bee activity and life cycle A simple student activity where students fill in the blanks from a word bank. Aimed at primary aged students.
Texas A&M University (USA)
Bees and Ants Describes a number of simple bee activities that are aimed at children aged 3 – 6 years.
Beechworth Honey
Student Activities An Australian site that contains a find-a-word puzzle and quiz about the types of fruits and vegetables that need honeybees for pollination.
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External sites are not endorsed by the Australian Academy of Science.
Created July 2011, edited August 2012.