The Basics:

Grade Level
5th- 8th

Subject Areas
POLLINATORS AND WILDFLOWERS Life sciences

Duration
Summary 95 minutes
Students will understand that plants depend on
pollinators to reproduce and maintain their Number of Docents Needed
populations. They learn about wetland plant 2
identification, plant anatomy and plant reproduction
while dissecting local wetland flowers, they play in a
pollinator relay race, then go outside to collect and
identify local pollination insects.

Objectives
Students will:
• Know that flowers are the reproductive organs of a plant and that seeds are the
product.
• Name the parts of a flower.
• Understand the role of pollinators in plant reproduction.
• Name some pollinators.

California Content Standards Addressed

Grade Five- Science content 2.a.: “Students know many multi-cellular organisms have
specialized structures to support the transport of materials.”
Grade Six- Science content 5.c.: “Students know populations of organisms can be
categorized by the functions they serve in an ecosystem.”
Grade Six- Visual Art content 2.1: “Use various observational drawing skills to depict a
variety of subject matter.”
Grade Seven- Science content 2.a.: “Students know the differences between the life
cycles and reproduction methods of sexual and asexual organisms.”
Grade Seven- Science content 5.f.: “Students know the structures and processes by
which flowering plants generate pollen, ovules, seeds, and fruit.
Grade Seven- Visual Art content 2.5: “Interpret reality and fantasy in original two-
dimensional and three-dimensional works of art.”

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 1

Outline
There are 7 parts to this lesson:

1) Flowers 101 (15 minutes)

2) Wildflower Collection and Dissection (25 minutes)
3) Pollinator 101 (10 minutes)
4) Honeybee Relay Race (25 minutes)
5a) Pollinator Hunt (15 minutes)
5b) Name that Pollinator! (15 minutes)
6) Closing Circle (5 minutes)

Materials
1. Flowers 101
Whiteboard and markers
2. Wildflower Collection and Dissection
Paper for each student
Pair of scissors or a dull knife for each student
Pack of colored pencils for each student (or enough for a pair of students to share)
Several microscopes
Small magnifying glass for each student
3. Pollinator 101
whiteboard and markers
4. Honeybee Relay Race
1. Pollen pom-poms (yellow). There should be no less than 2 pollen tokens per
student.
2. Nectar pom-poms (orange). There should also be no less than 2 nectar tokens
per student.
3. One tin can (or similar container) per team, to represent the honeycomb
a. Should be empty at the beginning of the game
4. Two tin cans (with pictures of flowers on them) per team, to represent flowers
a. One nectar pom-pom and one pollen pom-pom per child in each tin
can
5. One bee puppet per team.
5a. Pollinator Hunt
1 bug box for each student (a clear plastic box with a magnifier on the removable
lid)
5b. Name that Pollinator!
Several copies of laminated pollinator and flower match up cards (see bottom of
this lesson plan)

Vocabulary
Petal, Sepal, Ovary, Pistil, Stigma, Stamen, Anther, Pollination, Pollinator

Procedure
1) Flowers 101 (15 minutes)

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 2

 • After making introductions and discussing what we are doing today, ask the
students this question, where do seeds come from? (Some might say from
plants or trees. Try to get them to name flowers as the specific part of a plant
where seeds are produced.) How does a seed come from a flower? (Most
students will not know this.) Has anyone heard of pollen? Where does
pollen come from? Yes, it comes from flowers but specifically male flowers
or the male parts of flowers. Flowers are actually male or female or both. I
am going to draw you a picture of a flower that has male and female parts.
• (At this point draw a sketch of a flower on the whiteboard and label each
part of the flower. Perhaps discuss each part as you draw and have the
students to repeat the name of each flower part.) Pollen comes from the
male parts of the flowers called Stamens. Pollen is one of the parts f the
plant that creates a seed. To make a seed, the pollen has to fall or be carried
on to a female part called a Stigma. The pollen then travels down the inside
the stigma to the bottom where the seed eggs are. (Draw the pollen
traveling down the stigma on your flower diagram.) Once a tiny pollen and a
tiny seed egg meet a seed starts to grow in the flower and the petals fall off.
Pollination is the word for when the pollen and the seed egg meet. All plants
want to be pollinated so that they can grow seeds.
• Is this story surprising? Where did you originally think seeds came from?
Pollen is actually one of the parts necessary to make a seed.

2) Wildflower Collection and Dissection (25 minutes)

• Now each of you are going to get to dissect a few wildflowers from the
ESHA and examine these flower part up close with magnifying glasses. Then
you will get to draw your own flower diagram of one of the flowers you
dissected.
• Break the students into small groups and pair them up with stewards and
docents. Then the head out to the ESHA to pick some flowers. Each student
should only pick two or three flowers. Once they have flowers they come
back inside, sit with their group, and gently dissect their flowers with
scissors.
• Students examine them with magnifying glasses then draw and label the parts
of one of their flowers with paper and colored pencils. Once they are
done, flowers go in the trash or outside and drawing are collected.

3) Pollinator 101 (10 minutes)

• Gather the students together and ask them this question, how does pollen,
which does not move on its own, get to the female flower or female part of
the plant. Sometimes wind does it, sometimes pollen can just fall from the
male part to the female part when they are on the same flower, but most of
the time, pollen is carried from flower to flower by insects! Small animals like
insects who carry pollen around are called pollinators.
pollinators
• Most of the time pollinators do not even realize that they are carrying pollen
from flower to flower. They do it accidentally because they are going into
the flowers to find something else. Do any of you have an idea what the

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 3

 pollinating insects might be after? They are after something really sweet that
they use as a food source. It’s nectar, which is a sweet juice the flower
makes to attract insects to the flowers so that they can be tricked into
carrying pollen around for the flowers.
• Can anyone think of some other kinds of animals other than insects that are
potential pollinators? Think of some animals that fly. That’s right some birds,
like hummingbirds, drink nectar and accidentally carry pollen around. Also
bats drink nectar and are pollinators of some plants. What is the most
famous pollinator of all? Who do you see around flowers a lot? Honeybees!

4) Honeybee Relay Race (25 minutes)

• Move all the students outside and review the following information with the
students.
• Bees gather nectar and pollen from flowers for their own use as food. They use
the nectar to make honey and some pollen is used to provide important
nutrients to young bees or brood. While the bees are gathering food they scatter
pollen and pollinate many flowers. When bees leave the hive and find a nice
patch of flowers they need to communicate that with the other bees in the hive.
They do this by performing a “waggle” dance which tells the other bees the
direction and distance to the flowers. In this activity all of you students will
become bees and will fly from your hive to flowers in the field where you will
collect nectar and pollen, pollinate a flower, fly back to your hive and
communicate with other bees by doing a waggle dance.
• Break the students up into two or more even teams (the number of students in a
team will determine the length of the activity). Ask the teams to stand behind a
starting line and place the honeycomb container at the beginning of the line. This
is where the bees will deposit all of the nectar and pollen that they collect in the
field. Place a flower container with pollen pom-poms and nectar pom-poms
half way across the running area in front of each team. Place a second flower
container at the far end of the running area in front of each team with pollen and
nectar pom-poms. See attached Playing Field Diagram.
• Explain the rules: The runner holds the bee puppet while running. Each runner in
turn must go to the first flower bucket and pick out one pollen pom-pom and
one nectar pom-pom. The runner must then go to the second flower bucket and
deposit one pollen pom-pom in the bucket. The runner must then pick up one
pollen pom-pom and one nectar pom-pom from that container. The runner now
has two nectar pom-poms and one pollen pom-pom. The runner runs back to
the hive and places the pom-poms in the honeycomb container. Before passing
the bee puppet to the next runner in line the current runner must do a waggle
dance that includes at least one total rotation of the body. Then the puppet is
passed to the next student and the previous runner sits at the end of the line.
• Start the race. Encourage the kids to all run the race even if one of the teams
have finished. When all teams have finished the race look in the honeycomb and
the flower containers and analyze the contents. They may play again if they
wish.

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 4

 • Verbally review the activity with the students. What do bees pick up when they
are visiting flowers? What do they do with the nectar? What do they do with
the pollen? How do the bees help the flowers? How do the flowers help the
bees? How do bees tell other bees where there are flowers? When you are
done, have the students help you clear up all the relay race supplies.

5a and 5b are alternative activities. Choose one or the other based on student interest
and weather. Or do both if you have the time.

5a) Pollinator Hunt (15 minutes)

• Explain that we will now look for flower pollinators of the wetlands. Split the
kids up into their groups again and pass out bug boxes to each student. Have
them go out onto the ESHA in their groups and search for insects that are on
flowers or flying from flower to flower. Have them try to gently catch a
pollinator in there bug box. Once everyone in each group has collected a
pollinator, the students should bass around their bug boxes in their group for
everyone to observe the different insects. Students and stewards should help
each other identify the insects.
• Once they have passed around their insects it is time to gently release their
insect on to a plant or into the air. When all insects are released they may come
back to the WERC classroom.

5b) Name that Pollinator!

Pollinator! (15 minutes)
• Break the students up into groups of 16. Have them sit in their groups either in
the inside classroom or outdoor classroom. Pass out copies of the pollinator
and flower match up cards to each group. Each student gets either a flower
card or a pollinator card. (If you have less than 16 kids in a group, you will not
use all the cards, so make sure that you are passing out the right matches.) Each
student with a flower card takes turns putting their flower card in the middle of
the group. Each pollinator reads their card aloud. The whole group tries to
match the correct pollinator to each type of flower. Collect cards into a pile
when done with the game.
6) Closing Circle
• Have students and mentors circle up. Students pass around a stone and say one
fact they learned today.

Extensions
• Flower Pressings.
Go outside and collect wild flowers in small groups. Come back to the classroom
and put flowers in plant presses. When students come back for another field trip,
check on the flowers and have them make drawings that include their pressed
flowers.

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 5

Ants visit light-colored, simple, low-growing flowers positioned close to the stem.

Cascade Knotweed (Polygonum cascadense)

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 6

Bees are attracted to bright white, yellow, blue, or violet flowers, or those that reflect
ultraviolet light. The flower's shape is often tubular or has lots of petals.

Marigold (Tagetes sp.)

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 7

Beetles tend to pollinate flowers that are dull white or green with an odor that is often
unpleasant to humans. The flowers are large and flat or bowl-like.

Aster (Aster sp.)

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 8

Butterflies feed from bright red, orange, yellow, pink, blue, or purple flowers that are
often large and showy with a faint fresh odor. The flower often features a funnel shape
or narrow tube.

Honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum)

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 9

Flies visit pale and dull green flowers as well as dark brown or purple; sometimes the
flowers are flecked with translucent patches. Preferred flower shapes include simple
bowl shapes or funnel-like shapes.

Jack-
Jack-in-the-Pulpit flower (Arisaema triphyllum)
in-the-

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 10

Moths visit pale flowers that can be white, pink, purple, or red and usually open in late
afternoon or at night. The flowers, often described as large and showy, are tubular with
deeply hidden, abundant nectar and limited pollen.

Yucca (Yucca sp.)

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 11

Hummingbirds
Hummingbirds pollinate scarlet, orange, red, or white tubular flowers. They are
typically large and showy with abundant nectar. Unlike other birds, hummingbirds do
not require perch support because they hover while feeding on nectar.

Salvia (Salvia splendens)

Red Salvia

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 12

Bats generally visit large, showy flowers that are dull white, cream, green, or purple.
Bat-pollinated flowers open at night, at which time they emit a strong musty, fermenting,
or fruity odor. The flowers tend to be firm, wide-mouthed and bell- or dish-shaped.

Glory (Ipomoea albivena)

Morning Glory

Wetland Stewards Program Lesson 8 13