Background

Objectives

Students will observe pollinators in the garden.
Students will dissect a flower (lily) to observe the flowering parts.

Materials

Flowers to plant
Lily (one per group)
Magnifying lenses

Season

Spring or Fall

Group Size

Whole Class and small group

California State
Content Standards

L.S. 2.f

Structure of a flower: part of the plant that contains the reproductive organs.
Stigma: part of the pistil that receives the pollen.
Style: central part of the pistil.
Ovary: lower part of the pistil that produces eggs.
Pistil: the set of female parts of a flower; includes the ovary, style, and stigma.
Receptacle: part of the flower to which the other parts are attached.
Pedicel: the stalk supporting the flower.
Sepal: each parts of the calyx of a flower.
Petal: each parts of the corolla of a flower.
Filament: male reproductive organ of a flower.
Anther: part of the stamen that produces the pollen.

When the pollen (depending on the plant, some can come from the same plant or other plants need to have pollen from a different plant but same species) enters the pistil, it can fertilize an egg. It will develop in the ovary and become a fruit and seed.

Vocabulary

Pollen: A powdery substance, which is the covering of the male gametes (sperm cells) of seed plants.
Pollinator: Any small animal, usually an insect that helps spread the pollen from one plant to another.
Pollination: When a plant has received pollen from another plant (of the same species) and is fertilized.

Attention Grabber

Cut up an apple and share a piece with each student. (You can use any fruit, as long as there are seeds in the inside). What is in the inside of the apple? The seeds are in the apple! To me, I think the point of an apple is to eat the fruit, but to the plant, the real reason is to have a place to hold the seeds. How did the apple tree, or any other plant make those seeds? I think we need to start our observations in the garden to figure this one out.

Garden Activity

Part 1- Pollinator observation

Have flowers in the garden that that attract pollinators. If you plan in advance, you can have the students plant the flowers. Some good examples are lavender, purple cone-flower (Echinacea), and sunflowers.
Using magnifying lenses, have students observe the pollinators on the flowers. They can learn about the proboscis and watch the insects using this special tool to eat the pollen. They can observe that the pollen goes on the insects’ body and spreads it from flower to flower.

Part 2- Dissect a lily

Using a pictorial, show how pollinators pass the pollen from flower to flower.
Using a magnifying lens, have students carefully examine a lily flower.
Explain the parts of the flower and their purpose. Make sure to include the pollen! Students can touch the anther to get the pollen on their fingers – just like they are a pollinator!

Wrap Up

What are some examples of pollinators that you observed? What did those pollinators do? What happens when a plant is pollinated? (The fruits will grow with seeds inside) What is the purpose of a flower? The purpose of a flower is to attract pollinators.

What's Next?

Plant some strawberry plants in the garden and have students observe the process of “from flower to fruit”. The students can draw what they observe over the course of the fruit ripening on a piece of paper.

Pollination Tag

In order to play Pollen Tag, the students must create the props.

Begin by asking the students to share their favorite fruit. Ask them to draw their favorite fruit on one side of a piece of paper. One the other side, each student draws a flower with a large center (picture included).

Put a layer of double-adhesive tape over the center of the flower. The students are given cotton balls to put on their flower center. This is the pollen of the flower! (Students can color their cotton balls differently to distinguish their “pollen” from others)

Use these props to play a game of pollen tag! The rules of the game:

Give safety guidelines so that students do not get hurt.

3 students are chosen as pollinators (bees, butterflies, and houseflies are good examples- these cut out are provided)

The pollinators go around and tag the “flowers” (other students)

When a “flower” gets tagged, they need to give the “bee” some pollen.

If the bee already has pollen, they give it to the flower.

Once the flower has all new pollen, he/she turns into a fruit by flipping their paper over. This is because it received pollen from another flower.

These fruits go to the side and rest on a knee.

The game can end when most students are fruits.

Make up a play for students to act out. The “Pollination Play” starring:

Francis and Friends: the flowers,

Betty and buddies: the bees,

Alex and amigos: the anthers,

Pablo and people: the pollen,

Freddy and followers: the fruit!