What's All The 
Buzz About?

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Introduction
Tasks
Process
Resources
Teacher 
Assessment
Conclusion


 
Introduction

Get stung with bee facts!  First Graders are all a buzz to learn more about bee's. Beekeeping can be for men, women and children. Beehives can be easily kept in large cities and in the country.  However, before you decide to become a bee keeper, you should know all about why bees make honey, how they make honey, and the different jobs that each bee in the hive does.  So, put on your bee suit and get ready to explore the wonderful world of bees.


 
Tasks

Task 1:  tell how bees make honey
Task 2: explain what each bee's role is in the hive
Task 3: act out how bees talk with each other
Task 4: draw pictures of things needed when keeping bees
Task 5: make a crossword puzzle with words about bees
Task 6: create a wanted poster about a certain kind of bee
Task 7: illustrate the life cycle of a bee
Task 8: label the parts of the bee
Task 9: create a class fact book about bees


 
Resources
Task 1
how bees make honey
How do Bees Make Honey?
 This site has information about how bees make honey.  It is a one page description about the process of how bees make honey.  Published from Lansing State Journal, July 30, 1997.
The Process of Making Honey
 This page contains information and pictures that show the process of taking honey off of the comb.  This project is also created by Quick Learn Software.

Task 2
role of the bee in the hive

Bee Jobs
 This site gives a simple description about what each bee's role is in the hive.  From National Honey Board.

Task 3
bee communication

History of Bees
 This site tells about the kinds of dances that bees do, the decisions that are made by colonies, and feeding sights for bees.  This page was created by the Communication and Recruitment to Food Sources by Apis mellifera.
Bee Dance
 This site gives information about the bee dance.  The words are difficult to read.  This is taken from Zoogoer - November / December 1995.
Dancing with Bees
 This site tells about several of the dances that they do and shows them doing the dances.  Brought to you by Nova.

Task 4
things needed to keep bees

Beekeeping Equipment
 The beginning beekeeper will need hive equipment, beekeeping gear and bees before he can start his hobby.  This page will tell you all you need to have to keep bees.  This page is created by Capital Area Honeybee Stewards.

Task 5
vocabulary words about bees

Honey Glossary
 This site gives vocabulary words and their meanings for each letter of the alphabet.  Brought to you by the National Honey Board.
Meet the Bees
 This site is a tour of the hive where you can meet all of the bees in the hive and learn about what each bee does.  This is created by the CC Pollen Co.

Task 6
wanted poster about one kind of bee

Which bee did you catch?
 The queen bee and many of her other friends are located at this page.  Each of these bees have facts and information that go with them. This page is from CC Pollen Co.

Task 7
bee's life cycle

The Life Cycle of a Bee
 The information at this site tell about what each bee does and how long it lives.
Busy buzzy bee by Karen Wallace
 This book is in the classroom.

Task 8
label the parts of the bee

Bee Parts
 This site is a lesson plan site with a link to a bee that labels the body parts.  From Capital Area Honeybee Stewards.
Honey Bee Body
 This site gives information and shows the parts of the Honey Bee body. It also gives other information about bees. 

Task 9
make an interesting bee fact book

Honey Experts for Kids
 This site contains facts about bees, honey trivia, honey history, honey glossary, recipes, and honey games.  It is brought to you by the National Honey Board.
Tour of the Hive
 This site contains an animated tour through a bee hive. It allows you to meet all of the bees in the hive. This site was created by C C Pollen Co.

Related Books


 
Teacher Resources
 Back to teacher

Web Sites with Teacher Information

abc teach
Enchanted Learning
Kids Click


 
Process

Task 1: Students will tell how bees make honey.
Step 1. Students will look at resource sites with a partner.
Step 2. Students can take notes, draw pictures, or write sentences about how bees make honey.
Step 3. Partners will orally share with the class their findings on how bees make honey.

Materials:

Task 2: Explain what each bees role is in the hive.
Step 1. Students will look at the resource sites in pairs.
Step 2. Students will write a sentence about each bee's role in the hive. (queen, worker, drone)
Step 3. Each pair will turn in their written work.

Materials:

Task 3: Act out how bees communicate with each other.
Step 1. Students will look at the resource sites in groups of 3 - 4 students.
Step 2. After watching bees communicate with each other, make up your own form of communication
            that shows other friends how to get somewhere in the room.

Task 4: Draw pictures of things are needed when keeping bees.
Step 1. Students will look at the resource sites in pairs.
Step 2. Students will draw pictures of the objects needed to raise bees.
Step 3. Each pair will need to hand in their drawings.

Materials:

Task 5: Design a crossword puzzle with words about bees.
Step 1. Students will look at the resource sites to find words about bees.
Step 2. Students need to write down the words they find and their meanings.
Step 3. Students will need to design a crossword puzzle.
Step 4. Each puzzle needs to have 10 words and 10 clues.
Step 5. Each group will need to hand in their crossword puzzle.

Materials:

Task 6: Create a wanted poster about a certain kind of bee.
Step 1. Each student needs to look at the resource site.
Step 2. Students need to choose from the queen bee, worker bee, or drone bee.
Step 3. After choosing a bee, students need to make a wanted poster.  Each poster needs to include: Step 4. Each student will hang their wanted poster around the room and tell about it.

Materials:

Task 7:  Draw the life cycle of the bee.
Step 1. Look at the computer sites.
Step 2. Read the book Busy buzzy bee by Karen Wallace .
Step 3. With a partner, draw each step of the bees life cycle.
Step 4. Hand in one paper per group.

Materials:

Task 8: Label the parts of the bee.
Step 1. Look at both internet sites.
Step 2. Decide which type of bee you want to label.
Step 3. Get a worksheet of the type of bee you want to label.
Step 4. Label the bee.
Step 5. Turn in your paper.

Materials:

Task 9: Create an interesting fact book about bees.
Step 1. Each student needs to look at one or several of the sites about bees.
Step 2. Find one or several facts that you are interested in.
Step 3. Write each fact down on the paper.
Step 4. Draw a picture at the top of the page that tells about your fact or facts.
Step 5. Hand in your paper to the teacher.
Step 6. Teacher makes a fact book about bees using all of the student pages.
Step 7. Teacher reads the book to the class allowing each student to talk about their page.

Materials:


 
Assessment

This rubric can be used for all nine tasks.  The rubric is a scale from one to four.  Four being the student's best work and one being least amount of work done.  Each point value to be determined by teacher and discussed with students at the beginning of the unit.
 

4 - Extra Effort
          You have exceeded expectations.
3 - You Got It
      You have met the standard.
2 - Keep Working
      You need more practice.
1 - Not Yet
      You did not understand how to do the 
          assignment. You did not try to do the 
          assignment.


 
Conclusion

Now that you have buzzed through the wonderful world of bees you have become a "bee" expert.  You have learned how bees make honey, the role that each bee has in the hive, how bees communicate with each other, the equipment that is needed to keep bees, bee vocabulary, life cycle of a bee, the parts of a bee, and other interesting bee facts.  Hopefully, you have enjoyed your tour of the hive.

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This page was created by Jennifer Bohnsack
1st grade teacher, Geil Elementary.
For questions or comments please e-mail me.

Last updated:  April 2001.

This page was adapted by Patty Sinkler from Bernie Dodge & Tom March's template