Beautiful Bees
Students build a bee from foam balls and pipe cleaners to learn the anatomy of the bee, make a proboscis to "eat like a bee" and learn the bee waggle dance.
What You Need
Activity 1: Bee Anatomy
- Foam balls (3 per student)
- Toothpicks (2 per student)
- Shiny eyes (2 per student)
- Pipe cleaners (3 per student)
- 6 legs- 6 pieces that are 1/4 the length of a pipe cleaner
- 2 attennae, a proboscis and a stinger - 4 pieces that are 1/8 the length of a pipe cleaner
- 2 wings - 1/2 the length of a pipe cleaner
Activity 2: Eat Like a Bee
- Cardstock flowers (1 per student)
- Sticky and soft Velcro (1 small piece per student)
- 1/2 sheet of printer paper
- 1 straw
- 1 rubber band
- 1 paper flower
Activity 3: Communicate like a Bee
Lesson:
PowerPoint:
If you don't drop materials off to a school, alternate materials that can be found at home are given for making a bee.
Safety Notes
As a Let’s Talk Science volunteer, safety must be foremost in our minds during all activities. As STEM role models, volunteers must always also model safe science practices.
Always keep in mind the following precautions:
- Emphasize and demonstrate appropriate safety procedures throughout the presentation.
- Be professional but have fun.
- Keep workspaces clean to avoid tripping hazards.
- Allergens should have been checked before reserving the kit (e.g. allergies to latex).
What To Do
Activity 1: Bee Anatomy
The educator will distribute the materials to the students. Students will get to make a model bee by using the materials to make the body, legs, antennae, stinger, proboscis, wings and eyes.
Activity 2: Eat Like a Bee
Have the educator distribute the materials for this activity.
- Take the half sheet of paper and fold the two sides towards the middle of the paper lengthwise.
- Put a piece of tape down the middle to hold the folded parts down as in the photo.
- Fold about a half a centimetre of the paper at one end and tape it down as in the photo.
- From the end that is folded and taped, roll the paper tightly all the way to the other end to create a cylinder.
- Let the paper roll go while you do the next step.
- Insert about 1-2 cm of the straw into the opening at the end of the roll of paper and tape it in place.
- Tape along the rest of the open end so it is closed. This is your proboscis.
- Place a small piece of Velcro on the end of the roll that doesn’t have the straw so when it unrolls the Velcro is oriented toward the floor.
- Reroll the rolled part and put an elastic around the roll. Let this sit 1-3 hours so it will keep its shape when you blow it.
- Using the paper flower or a flower you draw and cut out, place a piece of Velcro in the middle (or a piece of tape if the students are at home with no Velcro) (this is pretend nectar).
- Blow into your proboscis and try to collect nectar by having the proboscis stick to the tape on the flower.
Activity 3: Communicate Like a Bee
Show students the video of the waggle dance on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7ijI-g4jHg
