Skip to Main Content
Flowers and Their Friends

Flowers and Their Friends

Students will learn about pollination and create "attractive" flowers and their pollinating pals out of Model Magic.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

Steps

  • Step 1

    Pollination is the process by which flowers reproduce. Pollinators use sight and smell to locate flowers that have pollen and nectar to eat. Ask students to look up parts of a flower including the pollen tube, pistil, stamen, petal, etc. Ask them to learn about vectors that move pollen from one flower to another such as wind, water, birds, insects, and others. Have them also investigate which flowers are preferred by various pollinators, such as clover for bees, red flowers for hummingbirds, etc.

  • Step 2

    Have students create some flowers and their pollinators out of Model Magic and then paint them. Encourage them to pair birds or insects with a flower they are attracted to in nature.

  • Step 3

    Have students present their creations and talk about the importance of protecting pollinators.

Standards

SCI: Develop models to describe that organisms have diverse life cycles but all have in common birth, growth, reproduction, and death.

SCI: Convey designs through sketches, detailed drawings, or physical models to communicate ideas and solutions.

SCI: Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction

Adaptations

Unfortunately, pollinators are in decline worldwide due to habitat loss, invasive species, pesticides, and other factors. Have students research how we can help save pollinators, such as by leaving patches of clover untouched when mowing a lawn, not using pesticides, etc.

Invite a local beekeeper or wildlife specialist to talk to the class about some local species of flora and fauna and how to best help them.