Students will learn about various types of bees and wasps. They will also learn about the job of a pollinator, and how bees/wasps benefit gardens.

Students in Grades 3 & 4 at Chain Exploration Center developed an understanding of the important role that pollinators play in human food systems as well as in native habitats. Students also learned about the stressors, many of them human-influenced, that are associated with the decline in pollinator populations. Students also learned about ways that humans can improve pollinator habitat. The culmination of student learning was an environmental stewardship project: the installation of a pollinator garden on the school grounds. What follows is an outline of the project process and a discussion of the resources that were used. 

“Square Foot Gardens: Healthy Spaces for People and Pollinators” is an interdisciplinary unit of study for twenty-four second grade students at Maple Grove Charter School. Part of a year-long science program, the unit complements the second grade EL Education English Language Arts Curriculum in which two Modules (approximately 18 weeks of literacy instruction) focus on the following guiding questions from Modules 3 & 4: “How do plants grow and survive?How do pollinators help plants grow and survive?How do we get the fruits, flowers, and vegetables that we enjoy?How do we become researchers and share our learning?Why should people help pollinators to survive?How can I take action to help pollinators?” (https://eleducation.org ) 

Each spring Roosevelt fourth graders embrace the challenge of writing an essay for the Wisconsin Ag in the Classroom essay competition for 4th and 5th graders. It has become a tradition at our school and many older siblings recall writing the essay for their particular topic when they were in fourth grade!  We have covered topics from John Deere & maple syrup to soybeans and farmer’s markets.  This year we were excited to study Wisconsin’s fruits, specifically strawberries!The annual contest falls in the third trimester where we focus on Expository writing and completing a 5 paragraph essay with a simple bibliography.