Room 506 had an opportunity to combine our studies; celebrating Black History Month, and our science topic, insects. In the Scholastic magazine Super Stem, an article featured Samuel Ramsey, a Black entomologist who studies honeybees to better protect them. We learned that they are being harmed by mites and we are losing many of them. Students learned about how important bees are in pollinating plants to help make new seeds for so many fruits and vegetables that we eat.
To better understand pollination, students looked at the stamens of a lily flower. They learned that as the bee sucks nectar from flowers the pollen from the stamen sticks to them. To get an example of this, each student had an opportunity to hold Cheese Doodles and then examine their fingers. Cheese stuck to them like pollen sticks to a bee. Then students viewed a fun and engaging YouTube video presented by Samuel Ramsey. In this video, he named many of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts honeybees help to pollinate. Students enjoyed choosing some of their favorites: apples, blueberries and pumpkins.
The article also taught us that bees make honey in their hive. Students got the opportunity to investigate a beehive. Then they tasted a spoonful of honey. They learned that bees do a waggle dance in the hive to aid others to find food. Students had fun imitating the figure 8 waggle dance. Finally, students enjoyed an interactive game on the SMART board. Each student became a bee that flew around the garden pollinating flowers.
In another lesson, our class wrote about Samuel Ramsey and his job as an entomologist. This was added to the Black History Quilt wall in our hallway which is a tribute to important Black Americans. Samuel Ramsey presents facts in a fun way that makes it interesting for our students. Maybe you might like to watch his insect videos, Dr. Buggs, on YouTube with your adolescent.
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