Just Bee - Brazil Edition - Macmillan Brazil

Just Bee

Teacher’s Guide

A buzzing new English Program inspired by Bees

Author

Angelica Manca

Table of

Introduction

Table of Contents

Scope & Sequences

The Student Workbook

Sustainable Education

The Role of Sustainable Education

Terms and Definitions

Bee: Champions of Sustainability

Teaching Strategies: Applying the STEAM framework and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to English Language Learning (ELL)

The STEAM Framework

English Language Learning (ELL) Strategies

Linking learning to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Applying Outdoor Education

The Dangers Teaching “Sustainable Education”

Unit 1: Be Biodiversity

Lesson 1: To Be or not to Bee

Lesson 2: Pollinators

Lesson 3: Garden Scouts

Lesson 4: From Flower to Fruit

Take Action: How Seed Bombs Help Nature

Lesson 1: Life in the Colony

Lesson 2: The Waggle Dance

Lesson 3: The Sound of a Buzz

Lesson 4: Follow your Nose Take Action: Meet the Community

Lesson 1: The Hive

Lesson 2: Shapes in Nature

Lesson 3: Body Ruled Measurements

Lesson 4: Bee-Inspired Architecture

Take Action: Bee Architecture Hunt

Lesson 1: The Beekeeper

Lesson 2: As Sweet As Honey Lesson 3: Mind Your Beeswax

4: Busy Bees

Unit 3: Unit 4:

Introduction

Just Bee is an English Language Learning program designed for primary-aged children that gives real world examples of how to live sustainably by drawing parallels to the fascinating world of Bees. It enriches students’ English vocabulary by integrating vocabulary within STEAM-focused lesson plans. Retention of new words is supported through hands-on, cross-disciplinary activities, making vocabulary meaningful and easier to remember.

Students learn how to take the lead from bees on living a more sustainable life. Bees have been guides to Humanity since the beginning of time, and they continue to be so even today. As Buddhist texts noted centuries ago, pollinators, especially bees “take what they need to survive without harming the beauty and vitality of their source of sustenance”. For humans, to act in the manner of honey bees is an enactment of compassionate and conscious living that is crucial for us to apply to everyday living.

Sustainability, with its thousands of nuances, seems to be the key word today. Just Bee introduces Take Action at the end of each Unit by linking the magical world of bees with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Not only can we identify with bees as an example of a creature that can live sustainably, but also find how these insects can be our partners in helping us to achieve the SDGs.

The activities in the program are set-up to demonstrate how honey bees are champions of sustainability in action. For example, everything honey bees produce can be reused. Honey, a truly magical mixture formed in the alchemy of honey bees mixing the nectar from flowers with enzymes inside them, breaking down the nectar’s composition into simple sugars and is said to be the only non-perishable food found in nature. Beeswax, also made by the honey bee, is made by the worker bee converting the carbs from excess honey into liquid beeswax, produced from a gland in the female worker bee’s abdomen. The wax is used to build the honeycomb, needed to store honey, pollen and the bee brood (eggs, larvae and pupae). In times of scarcity, bees can eat that wax, reminiscent to the gingerbread house in the Hansel and Gretel, where parts of the house are eaten by the children to appease their hunger.These are just two of the countless examples that are used to show how honey bees not only live in equilibrium with their natural environment but enhance it as well.

A central theme of Just Bee is communication. As social beings living in a globalized world, English Language Learning has become a critical part of Education. Communication has a central role in Just Bee: firstly, it introduces a key English Language Learning concept in every lesson, linked with the lesson on sustainability and the STEAM framework; secondly, it dedicates a whole unit to communication inspired by the way bees have successfully mastered this art through all their senses. Activities are aimed at discovering the highly sophisticated ways bees have developed to pass on crucial information from generations to generations of bees. This provides a meaningful context for language learning as well as facilitating the understanding of the natural world through hands-on activities.

We have a lot to learn from honey bees. The thousands of individuals in the hive have evolved to function with the consciousness of an organism, acting as a whole, yet each individual with its specific role and importance in the colony. Today, we’re not only inspired by them but are also called to preserve them. Bees are experiencing extreme pressures largely due to human activity and changes in the environment. Moreover, bees are also responsible for pollinating more than a third of our food source. So, if bees are in danger, so are we. Yet another undeniable reason to incorporate the study of bees in Education.

Just Bee invites students, teachers and parents to be “one with nature”, and everything else will follow, just as it does for the bees.

Scope and Sequence

Unit 1

Lesson

Lesson 1 To Be or Not to Bee

Be Biodiversity

Lesson Focus

The importance of bees as agents of biodiversity.

Drawing and using symbols to express the importance of bees in Nature.

Students explore homophones to support their development of phonemic awareness, a necessary skill in learning how to read, by having to pay closer attention to the sounds in words and distinguishing between sound and meaning

Activities

Student Book

Decoding Messages

Students explore bees as a symbol of biodiversity through symbols and hieroglyphics.

Homophones

Completing sentences by choosing the correct homophone.

Lesson 2 Pollinators

The importance of pollinators in Nature.

Students learn about the fact that it takes a variety of pollinators to pollinate different plants and flowers.

Developing visual memory by associating words with pictures in a Spelling Bee game. The second part of the focus is on developing phonological awareness further by identifying rhyming words and focusing on the sounds at the end of the words, like “bee” and “tree” in a Spelling Bee game.

Students apply their acquired knowledge in a group setting with a classroom Spelling Bee game.

Plants and their Pollinators

Students learn about tropical plants and their pollinators through a matching game. This knowledge is then applied by students by drawing a rain forest with bee-friendly plants and trees.

Spelling Bee

Students learn how to write simple words associated with the bee word in a spelling bee activity.

Lesson 3 Garden Scouts

Learning about the elements that make up our natural environment.

Students learn about the elements that make up a garden, and Bee Scouts. Bee scouts play an important role because they find food and tell the rest of the hive where to find it, showing the importance of teamwork.

Students enrich their vocabulary by going on a nature work and identifying key elements of nature.

Bee Scouts

Students pretend to be bee scouts and draw a bee-friendly garden with all the key elements that make up a natural environment.

Nature Hunt

Students find and name things in nature during a walk in the garden or forest.

Lesson Lesson Focus

Lesson 4 From Flower to Fruit

Learning about the Pollination Process.

Students learn about the pollination process, i.e. that plants need to be pollinated in order to make the seeds, fruits and the vegetables we eat. They learn that the most important pollinators are bees.

Students develop phonological awareness further by listening to and practicing the different vowel sounds in words, through the fund and interactive Apples and Bananas song, whereby each vowel sound is switched every time it is sung.

Using seed bombs to increase biodiversity in cities and towns.

Activities

Parts of a Bee

Student Book

Students learn about the parts of a bee and where the pollen is stored on the bee during the pollination process.

Pollination Process

Applying the vocabulary in the pollination process from pollinator to flower to fruit.

Take Action

Planting for Pollinators

This lesson focuses on how to take action to support biodiversity and create new habitats for plants and animals. Seed bombs can be used to connect green spaces in cities, forming ecological paths that allow seeds, pollinators, and animals to move freely and support a healthier natural environment.

Planting for Pollinators

Students explore bee-friendly plants by drawing their flowers and/or fruit and seeds in a chart and then make seed bombs with the seeds they like best to seed them in their town or city.

Language Language Group Activities

STEAM legend :

Art Maths Engineering Science

Unit 2

Be Social

Lesson Lesson Focus

Lesson 1

Life in the Colony

Lesson 2

The Waggle Dance

Social insects, like bees, live in colonies where each member has a specific role, working together as a team to support the colony’s survival.

Students learn about the life cycle of a honey bee by using hands-on materials— such as rice grains, cotton balls, and wax—to represent each stage (egg, larva, pupa, and adult) as they follow along in their workbook.

Next, students learn about the organized roles in a bee colony, by observing and describing the differences between queen bees, worker bees, and drones, measuring their lengths, and learning how to identify the queen bee.

Inspired by the natural world, learners expand their vocabulary with collective nouns, introducing them to words that describe groups of animals or insects and adding variety to their language use.

Exploring how bees communicate with each other using visual signals to send messages.

Students learn that honey bees see the world very differently than we do and have a rather pixelated vision.

Later, they also learn about how honey bees communicate through the waggle dance to the other bees in the hive to share the location of nectar rich flowers.

Students create a spinning arrow for the Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance instructions and write them down before joining in a group dance. English language skills are developed by encouraging students to follow written instructions, practice vocabulary, and engage in sequencing through interactive movement.

Activities

Student Book

Life Cycle of Honey Bees

Completing the life cycle of honey bees with hands-on materials.

Living as One Family

Students learn to identify the 3 types of honey bees that live in a colony – worker, drone and queen bee – by measuring them.

Spot the Queen

Spotting the queen amongst the other bees in the hive.

Collective Nouns

Extending vocabulary with collective nouns about animals and insects, for example “a swarm of bees”.

Blurry Vision

Students complete a chart of the way bees see a field of flowers.

Dancing for Life

Learning how to follow dotted lines to form a figure 8 which corresponds to the dance a bee makes when it finds a field full of nectarrich flowers.

Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance

Students make their own Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance through a fun and interactive game.

Unit 2

Be Social

Lesson Lesson Focus

Lesson 3

The Sound of a Buzz

Lesson 4 Follow Your Nose

Discovering how bees use sound for communication and exploring different types of auditory signals, like mating and alarm calls, to send messages within their hive.

Students learn how bees use buzzing sounds to communicate in addition to exploring how animals can use sounds to send messages.

Students create a Buzzing Noisemaker to mimic the sound bees make by following simple assembly steps and then spinning it to hear the buzzing noise.

Students write bee-themed poetry* using onomatopoeic words like “buzz”, helping them expand their language skills and knowledge about bees, facilitating the connection of sounds with words, making vocabulary more memorable and engaging.

Introduction to how animals use smell communication to share information, especially bees.

Students learn how bees use smells (pheromones) to communicate and stay organized in the hive, and how flowers use scents to attract bees, showing students how nature uses smells to send important messages in daily life.

Students expand their vocabulary and descriptive language skills using synonyms (words with similar meanings) and adjectives (words that describe something).

Take Action

Meet the Community

This lesson focuses on how bees’ teamwork and roles in their colony teach students about the importance of different roles in a community, fostering appreciation, cooperation, and empathy.

Activities

Student Book

Buzzing Sounds

Exploration of animal sounds through a matching game where students combine animals with their sounds.

Bee Poetry

Creating a simple poem through an interactive, hands-on game using onomatopoeias.

Scent Bingo

Exploring smells and the important messages they give.

Smelling Synonyms

Learning new words (adjectives) to describe scents and/or nouns (synonyms) that replace the word “scent”.

Meet the Community

Students understand teamwork by listing and assigning classroom jobs, comparing their roles to a beehive, and exploring how working together keeps their environment organized.

Unit 3

Bee Architecture

Lesson Lesson Focus

Lesson 1

The Hive

Lesson 2

Shapes in Nature

Animals’ habitats and how they provide food and shelter as well as a place to stay safe.

Students learn about different types of beehives and how their materials may vary.

Students are then encouraged to apply their creativity by designing their own beehive using materials bees might prefer, with a discussion on natural and sustainable building.

English language learning is supported by encouraging vocabulary practice, reinforcing word-picture associations in a matching game that allows students to explore a variety of animals and their homes. Students are encouraged to use their imagination to draw their own dream house and describe it to the rest of the students.

Students’ memory and vocabulary skills are enhanced by learning about animals and their homes in an interactive memory matching game, pairing animals with their homes.

Recognizing geometric shapes in nature, especially hexagons, which are strong and efficient and commonly found in structures like beehives and snowflakes.

The focus is on understanding why bees use hexagons in their honeycomb for strength and space efficiency.

Students then learn about how bees use the honeycomb in their hive for pollen, honey or baby bees.

Students learn about geometry in nature by matching shapes with natural examples, enhancing their English language skills through vocabulary building and descriptive language focused on shapes and their characteristics. Then, students are encouraged to research other shapes that can be found in nature.

Activities

Student Book

One Family, Many Homes

Students discover the different materials used to make hives and have to match each material with its corresponding hive type.

A Home for the Family of Bees

Students apply their creativity to design and invent their own beehive.

Animal Homes

Students explore the variety of animals and their homes in a fun matching activity.

My Home

Students are encouraged to use their imagination and draw their dream home.

Many Animals, Many Homes

Students draw their favorite animal and its home, then play a memory matching game to pair animals with their homes.

Hexagons in Honeycombs

Students explore hexagons by connecting dots to make as many hexagons as they can.

Hexagons in Honeycombs

Students color hexagons, observe a honeycomb, and fill cells with pollen, honey, or baby bees.

Shapes

Students match the shape with its description and examples in nature.

Unit 3

Bee Architecture

Lesson Lesson Focus

Lesson 3

Body Ruled Measurements

Lesson 4

Bee Inspired Architecture

Discovering how animals and humans measure and navigate their surroundings using different methods.

Students learn that even bees need to make measurements when building their honeycomb. They do this by using festooning to measure distances by linking their bodies.

Students explore body-based measurements by measuring parts like their thumbs, hands, and feet to match traditional units, enhancing English language skills by reinforcing vocabulary related to body parts and units of measurement.

Exploring how the best animal home builders have inspired architects in designing structures like houses, buildings, and cities.

The focus is on studying the hexagonal structure of honey bee hives to inspire students in designing sustainable and efficient architecture, highlighting how bees’ space use, resource-saving, and temperature control can influence environmentally friendly buildings.

This activity expands students’ vocabulary by introducing number prefixes in English with illustrations and word formation skills through visual learning.

Take Action

Bee Architecture Hunt

This lesson and activity focus on identifying honeycomb-inspired structures in city designs, such as buildings, sidewalks, and playgrounds, highlighting sustainable urban design aligned with SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities); students are encouraged to observe and document examples in their city to understand how nature-inspired design can enhance community spaces.

Activities

Student Book

Chain of Bees

Students learn about festooning by counting how many bees it takes to connect honeycomb sections.

Units of Measure

Students link the vocabulary with units of measure using body parts like thumbs, feet and hands.

Award-Winning Bee Architecture

Students apply their creativity to draw a bee inspired building.

Words with Numbers

Students create new words with number prefixes and then have to draw the new word.

Bee Architecture Hunt

Students explore their city or town in the search for bee-inspired architecture and document what they find.

Unit 4

Bee and Human Beings

Lesson Lesson Focus

Lesson 1

The Beekeeper

Lesson 2

As Sweet as Honey

The evolution of Beekeeping tools and how today’s equipment helps protect beekeepers, while exploring the long-standing relationship between humans and bees.

Students explore the historical connection between humans and bees through storytelling.

Students improve their vocabulary by identifying and matching beekeeping tools with their names, reinforcing word recognition and comprehension skills through visual association.

Students are encouraged to build vocabulary through creating a personalized dictionary, using interactive language apps, and watching educational videos, enhancing their word knowledge, comprehension, and engagement with English.

Highlights of honey bees as producers of honey for their colony, and honey’s long history with humans as a lasting and valuable resource.

Students explore honey’s unique properties and role in food preservation, while guiding students through a recipe (Pão de Mel) to understand honey’s versatility.

Students reinforce sentence structure and descriptive language with similes by practicing comparisons with food-related phrases, like “as sweet as honey”.

Interactive activity that combines tasting with language learning, as students sample flavors like honey and lemon and use similes from their workbook to describe each taste, enhancing their vocabulary and descriptive skills.

Activities

Student Book

Beekeepers Throughout Time

Students illustrate their understanding of an ancient bee story of the Tupi-Guarani indigenous tribe.

Beekeepers’ Tools

Learning about beekeepers’ tools through a matching game.

Honey, the Forever Food

Students reinforce sequencing and comprehension skills by ordering and illustrating the baking steps for the Pão de Mel recipe.

Similes

Students have to complete the similes by matching the foods with their flavors.

Unit 4

Bee and Human Beings

Lesson Lesson Focus

Lesson 3

Mind Your Besswax

Lesson 4

Busy Bees

Uses of beeswax as a natural, renewable material that bees create for building honeycombs and protecting the hive, demonstrating its sustainability and versatility.

Students explore the properties of wax and its uses over time, and examine how wax changes when heated and cooled, encouraging them to research beeswax applications and track its evolution.

Students create their own wax museum by molding beeswax into animals and people, learning about the versatility of beeswax and engaging in hands-on creativity, similar to how bees shape their honeycombs.skills by reinforcing vocabulary related to body parts and units of measurement.

Students enhance their vocabulary and English comprehension by discovering compound nouns and creating new words from two smaller words

Focus on the critical role bees play in pollinating our food crops and emphasis on the importance of protecting them to ensure our own food security.

Students are introduced to biophilic design, and learn how nature-inspired structures support environmental well-being and biodiversity.

Students work in groups to create bee-friendly water stations with saucers, pebbles, and water, providing bees with a safe drinking spot to observe bee behavior.

Students enhance their language skills by expanding vocabulary and understanding idiomatic expressions that use nature to describe behaviors or situations.

Take Action

Visit a Bee Farm

Students get a hands-on experience at a bee farm or apiary to learn about beekeeping, environmental responsibility, and the role bees play in biodiversity, helping students connect with nature and understand sustainable practices.

Activities

Student Book

Beeswax: A Natural Material that Changes

Students have to identify how wax changes over time.

Beeswax and other Compound Words

Students make new words by combining two words together and drawing their new meanings.

Doing our Part

Students design and draw a bee hotel for solitary bees.

Animal Sayings

Student match and complete animal sayings that use nature to describe behaviors or situations.

Visit a Bee Farm

Students illustrate their outing at a bee farm with a drawing.

Our Promises to Bees

Making a group promise and plan (manifesto) on what the class will do to help bees in their region.

The Student Workbook

The Just Bee student workbook is an integral part of the program and accompanies the students through their learning journey. Students build on their knowledge by collecting, recording, and sharing observations on the fascinating world of bees.

The workbook follows the same Unit and Lesson progression as the Teacher’s Manual with each lesson having one or more corresponding activities in the workbook, that require students to apply and document their learnings from the lessons through hands-on and creative ways.

Student Wokbook Activity: All workbook activities are indicatd with the the yellow bee Student Workbook Activity icon.

Sustainable Education

Program Overview

Just Bee is an English Language Learning program designed for primary-aged children that promotes action in Sustainable Education, in addition to enriching students’ English vocabulary, by taking inspiration from the fascinating world of bees. Every lesson provides students with the opportunity to be empowered to be leaders for change to positively impact the planet.Thanks to early education, Just Bee has an impact on students with the goal to foster positive formation of life-long behaviors, seeding the new generation of environmental citizenry.

Just Bee is divided into 4 units: Be Biodiversity, Be Social, Be Builders and Bees and Human Beings, taking students on a learning journey in the discovery of bees as champions of sustainability. Every lesson opens with a concept that links our world to that of Nature. The second part of each lesson draws a parallel between the bee world and ours, thus allowing students to find innovative ways to take care of the environment and live more sustainably. In this section, students become acquainted with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are provided with examples of how bees help the environment and enrich human life.

The third goal of Just Bee is to develop English Language skills to provide a broader range of opportunities for global communication and collabo. Every lesson incorporates key English Language Learning (ELL) activities and has been carefully linked to the sustainable action introduced in the earlier part of the lesson, proving students with a framework to enhance their language skills. Finally, at the end of every unit, Just Bee also includes elements of Outdoor education to facilitate learning through direct experience through all the senses.Teachers invite students to go on a field trip whereby they get to experience key learnings from the lessons in real world settings: for example, meeting the community or increasing biodiversity in towns or cities to visiting a bee farm. Outdoor education encourages children to experience the outdoors as a living classroom that stimulate the imagination and provide a more meaningful context for learning.

This section covers each one of these learning goals whilst providing Teachers with the background knowledge on the terms, definitions and origins of Sustainable Education.

The Role of Sustainable Education

The role of Sustainable Education has gained recognition as being crucial in children’s education. This role has been fueled by the public debate in recent years on environmental issues and the topic of sustainable development and sustainability. In addition to equipping students with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to create a sustainable future, incorporating sustainable education in elementary school has numerous benefits for students, society, and the environment.

Firstly, it fosters environmental consciousness because of the introduction of environmental issues and their impact on the planet. By emphasizing the role of individuals and communities in creating sustainable societies, students can become active and engaged members of their communities, advocating for sustainable practices and promoting environmental stewardship. This promotes an understanding of the interconnectedness between human society, the economy, and the environment and advances an environmental consciousness that can lead to long term responsible and sustainable practices when students grow up to adulthood.

Sustainable Education is also fantastic for developing critical thinking skills. It encourages students to question the status quo, it teaches them to evaluate information, analyze problems, and develop solutions based on evidence. These skills are transferable to many areas of life and will be essential for them in the future to tackle complex environmental problems.

Teaching for sustainability has another advantage: it provides opportunities for interdisciplinary learning by combining science, social studies, math, language and the arts. It teaches students to make connections between different subjects, promoting a holistic understanding of the world and the environment. This type of learning can also enhance creativity and innovation. In addition, students are encouraged to make healthy choices, such as eating locally grown food and emphasizing the importance of clean air, water, and soil. These practices can lead to improved physical and mental health for individuals and communities.

Just Bee takes students on the discovery of fundamental aspects of our life – from biodiversity, to how plants need pollinators to produce seeds, fruit and vegetables, to bees as social insects, bees as highly skilled engineers and architects to the way beekeeping done sustainably can help communities and improve our health. It equips students to be better decision-makers, innovators and resilient in the face of the many environmental challenges we’re faced with by providing students with the real world example of bees. By learning about how bees live in harmony in nature, students are drawn to them with a feeling of deep respect and a strong emotional bond. More importantly, students discover about their pivotal role in ensuring biodiversity and our survival on our planet.

The next section covers Bees as champions of sustainability and how they are valued partners in helping us achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a more sustainable life.

Terms and Definitions

Below is a list of terms to help navigate through concepts linked with Sustainability:

The term Sustainable Development was first defined by the United Nations in 1987 and to date is the cornerstone principle in environmental and socioeconomic analysis and planning. It is clear from its definition that the ultimate goal is to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Sustainability, on the other hand carries a much broader and more important concept as it lives outside a concept of “development.” It has no further end to itself except to exist in a complete state of balance. Sustainability is life, but it is also death, because even the dry, dead leaves that fall in autumn contain within them life for the earth. It is therefore linked to the cyclicality and balance of nature. Therefore, Nature, by definition, is sustainable. In nature, what is not sustainable has no room to exist. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 17 goals that were put forward by the United Nations in 2015 and received full adoption by all Member States, as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

To educate for sustainability, we must first nurture the sacred bond between children and nature, starting from early childhood, this way we can facilitate an emotional relationship between children and nature, and which, if given the adequate space and time, will occur spontaneously.

Bees: Champions of Sustainability

Bees offer an engaging and tangible example for teaching students about sustainability. By focusing on bees, you can introduce concepts like pollination, biodiversity, threats to ecosystems, and individual actions in a relatable and meaningful way, inspiring children to become environmentally conscious and make informed choices for a sustainable future.

Here’s how bees and sustainability interplay in the 4 units that make up Just Bee.

Unit 1 - Be Biodiversity – highlights bees are part of a larger ecosystem, and their presence contributes to the biodiversity of our planet. Explaining how bees interact with other plants, animals, and insects in their habitat helps students understand the interconnectedness of species and the importance of maintaining a healthy balance in ecosystems.

Unit 2 - Be Social - covers the individual and collective actions of bees as social creatures. They provide an excellent example of how small individual actions can have a significant impact on sustainability. They also inspire curiosity and empathy as they are fascinating creatures that can captivate students’ attention. Their complex social structure, remarkable communication methods, a topic that is covered extensively in this unit. Students learn about bees’ sophisticated communication skills which involve the use of all their senses. Ultimately, bees’ ability to communicate serves one purpose: to work together as a team, ensuring the hive’s survival and prosperity!

Unit 3 - Be Builders - focuses on the design inspiration students can get from bees. In fact, bees exhibit remarkable architectural skills in constructing their hives.Their honeycombs are a marvel of efficiency, providing structural strength while optimizing space utilization. By studying bees’ architectural feats, students gain inspiration for designing sustainable and efficient structures themselves. They can learn about concepts such as optimal use of space and resource efficiency. Another fascinating aspect that deepens Sustainable Education through the study of bee architecture, is the natural and sustainable materials, i.e. beeswax, that bees use to construct their hives. Teaching students about these natural materials and their properties can raise awareness about sustainable material choices in architectural design.

Finally, Unit 4 - Bees and Human Beings, covers the interaction between humans and bees as well as the threats to bee populations. Bees are facing various challenges such as changes in weather patterns, habitat loss and diseases. Teaching students about these threats raises awareness and encourages them to take action to protect bees and their habitats. It also provides an opportunity to discuss broader environmental issues and the importance of sustainable practices in our daily lives.

Teaching Strategies: Applying the STEAM framework and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to English Language Learning (ELL)

Just Bee is an engaging, comprehensive program designed for primary-aged children, using the fascinating world of bees as a real-life example to inspire learning and sustainable living. Set in the tropical landscape of Brazil, the program explores the vital role bees play in the natural environment and biodiversity, highlighting why they need protection and how they inspire us to live more responsibly. Each lesson is thoughtfully divided into components that encourage a hands-on, varied approach to learning, making environmental education both meaningful and fun.

The STEAM Framework

Each lesson begins with an opening paragraph linking the lesson to a key nature concept, followed by an introduction to a STEAM discipline and applied to a hands-on activity, linked to the student workbook, highlighted with one or more of the 5 STEAM logos:

Art Maths Engineering Science Technology

The multidisciplinary STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) Framework provides the perfect framework for young students to explore bees and the natural world in a dynamic way, while building on their critical thinking skills.

Science: Students learn about bee biology, natural habitats, and the importance of bees in pollination and biodiversity.

Technology: Students explore how bees see and navigate the world, inspiring human technology and design. One key example used in Just Bee is the way bees see in a unique and pixellated way, much like individual pixels in digital screens.

Engineering: Students are introduced to the incredible feats bees undertake in building their beehives together with a variety of organic materials. Later, students are challenged to design bee hotels or create models of honeycombs, applying ideas about structure and sustainability inspired by bees.

Art: Students express their creativity through a series of bee-inspired drawings and symbols.

Mathematics: Students explore shapes in nature, patterns in honeycomb geometry or calculate distances between honeycomb segments in festooning bees, connecting math concepts to real-life ecology.

This integrated approach, not only deepens their understanding of bees, but also sparks curiosity and respect for the natural world, encouraging students to become thoughtful stewards of the environment.

English Language Learning (ELL) Strategies

Each STEAM activity is followed by an English Language Learning (ELL) activity, providing a meaningful context for language learning. Language activities are marked with the following logo:

Language

Each English Language Learning activity in Just Bee has been carefully linked to the nature concept and STEAM discipline to facilitate the acquisition of new vocabulary related to the lesson’s topic. By immersing themselves in the context, students absorb language more effectively and retain it better. Concepts are enhanced through hands-on activities, whilst simultaneously learning how to use the target language in English. Every language lesson has a corresponding activity on the student workbook.

Below are the main ELL strategies employed:

Strategy

Vocabulary Building and Contextual Learning

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness

Descriptive Language and Sentence Structure

Visual Learning and Total Physical Response (TPR)

Cross-Disciplinary Language Integration

Description

Students expand vocabulary through homophones, compound nouns, and collective nouns related to bees and nature. Matching tools and animal sayings reinforce word recognition, while dictionary creation and language apps support independent learning.

Activities like rhyming games and spelling bees develop awareness of sounds within words. Songs like ‘Apples and Bananas’ allow students to practice vowel sounds, enhancing listening skills essential for early reading.

Practice with similes (e.g., ‘as sweet as honey’) and descriptive language enhances students’ ability to compare, describe, and express sensory experiences, building descriptive vocabulary and sentence structure familiarity.

Drawing, symbol usage, and matching games (like animal homes and bee hives) reinforce word-picture associations, allowing students to visualize language concepts, which improves recall and comprehension. Total Physical Response (TPR) combines movement with language, helping students retain vocabulary more easily.

Integrating language activities within STEAM-focused lessons (e.g., science vocabulary in pollination, math terms in honeycomb geometry) helps students build language skills in a multidisciplinary context, supporting vocabulary retention and concept understanding.

Moreover, many of the English Language Learning activities in this program include a group component, indicated by the Group logo:

Language Group Activities

These activities are designed to accommodate various learning styles and preferences, making them adaptable for different language proficiency levels and suitable for mixed-ability classrooms. Group games are especially effective because they encourage active participation from all students, promoting both engagement and motivation. In a supportive and relaxed environment, students practice language skills naturally, without the pressure of traditional classroom settings, which makes them more willing to participate, take risks, and learn through experience.

Examples of these activities include group games like Spelling Bee, memory matching, and creating a Buzzing Noisemaker, all of which promote communication, collaboration, and active language practice in a social setting.

Linking learning to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Finally, every Unit concludes with a Take Action lesson, that giving ideas of how students can take action to achieve a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) by partnering or being inspired by bees in their local community. These activities are indicated with an SDG icon.

According to the UN Development Program, bees play a crucial role as powerful partners in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These small but vital creatures directly support five of the 17 SDGs: they promote biodiversity (Goal 15), combat hunger by pollinating crops (Goal 2), create decent jobs in agriculture and related sectors (Goal 8), and contribute to reducing poverty (Goal 1) by supporting sustainable livelihoods.

Just Bee, makes references 3 of the17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Take Actions lesson as follows:

Just Bee encourages sustainable city design inspired by bee habitats, teaching about bee-friendly architecture, green spaces, and biophilic design. This promotes biodiversity in urban areas and helps students understand how nature-inspired planning contributes to healthier communities.

Lessons emphasize the crucial role of bees in biodiversity, particularly in pollination and plant interactions. Activities like seed bombing and planting for pollinators foster habitats for bees and other wildlife, promoting a balanced ecosystem and supporting diverse life on land.

The program fosters community partnerships and environmental stewardship through hands-on experiences like visiting bee farms in the surrounding area. Students are encouraged to advocate for bee protection, create group promises, and actively participate in supporting pollinator habitats in their own communities.

Applying Outdoor Education

Just Bee includes elements of Outdoor education to facilitate learning through direct experience. Teachers invite students to go on a field trip whereby they get to so that students get to experience first-hand key learnings in the field and help them feel empowered.

Outdoor education originated in Scandinavian countries and today encapsulates activities carried out in natural settings, as well as educational pathways carried out in urban environments, such as parks, in which a direct and concrete relationship with the real world and the full involvement of the child are guaranteed (House of Commons - Education and Skills Committee, 2005).

Outdoor education encourages students to experience the outdoors as a living classroom as these spaces stimulate the imagination are full of elements to be observed and manipulated. Through the outdoors, students learn to deal with complex concepts and silently equip themselves with important emotional and cognitive tools to deal with life’s unexpected events.

This facilitates an interaction with natural elements, as well as the reworking, investigation and inquiry held indoors, within the classroom. In this way, a dialogue is established between the outdoor and indoor worlds, strengthening the relationship between student and environment. This dialogue is also reflected in the relationship between the child’s inner and outer life, with the aim of providing a holistic teaching approach.

The Dangers of Teaching “Sustainable Education”

As has been outlined, Sustainable Education is widely accepted as being beneficial to early adopters. Today we can’t get away from environmental topics: from global warming to land misuse, to the preservation of ecosystems and the correlation between environment and health. It’s possible to convey the complexity and interdependence of global challenges to elementary aged students, as long as they are introduced very carefully. Otherwise, the risk is to stress them and create a resentment towards environmental responsibilities that adults aren’t even able to cope with.

The best teaching occurs when the educators’ efforts are focused on accompanying the student on a journey of discovery, not on imparting knowledge. Discovery that nurtures wonder: allowing the ingeniousness of the bee world to build empathy between students before invoking knowledge and responsibility towards it.

The activities in Just Bee combine art and science, play and theory, indoor and outdoor, individual and group work to convey the beauty of nature that surrounds us and speaks to continuously, even though we often do not see, hear, smell or taste Nature because we’re too distracted by “doing.” The invitation is to slow down our pace and observe the natural world that speaks to all our senses and imparts that much-needed tranquility. Only in this way, can this valuable teaching be passed on to the child in that is in all of us.

Just Bee has the goal of supporting students’ understanding that each one of us, through our actions, can have a profound impact on our planet and the way things are run. Our actions and choices matter: from what we eat, to how we communicate, and construct our cities.

Be Biodiversity Unit 1

This unit highlights bees and their pivotal role as part of a larger ecosystem. Their presence contributes to the biodiversity of our planet. Students learn about how bees carry powerful symbols in the history of Humanity and the way they interact with other plants, animals, and insects in their habitat which provides the learning framework to understand the interconnectedness of species and the importance of maintaining a healthy balance in our ecosystems. Ultimately, without bees, we would not Be.

Lesson 1 To Be or Not to Bee

Insects may be among the smallest creatures in the animal kingdom, but they play a crucial role in maintaining balance in nature. They are essential for supporting biodiversity — the rich variety of plant and animal life on our planet. Many plants, especially, rely on insects like bees for pollination (explored in detail in Unit 1, Lessons 2 and 4). The relationship between insects and plants illustrates how deeply interconnected all species are. Bees, in particular, have become powerful symbols for humanity, representing community and biodiversity across cultures and throughout history.

Bees: Decoding Messages

Nature is a tremendous source of inspiration. Many of its creatures carry important meanings to us. The honey bee, for example, is a powerful symbol of community, continuance and regeneration As the source of honey, they also represent sweetness, healing and magic. In Ancient Egypt, the honey bee was associated with royalty and as early as 3500 BCE was used as the hieroglyphic symbol of the King of Lower Egypt.Today it is the symbol of biodiversity, as it is considered to be the most important agent in the maintenance of flowering plant diversity.

Hieroglyphics are picture words that ancient Egyptians used on their buildings. Below are hieroglyphics used to express concepts about honey bees.

Using the example of Ancient Egypt’s hieroglyphics, ask the students to turn to page 13 of the student workbook and make their own messages about why bees are important in Nature. They can even invent their own symbols. Then ask them to share their answers with the rest of the class.

King of Lower Egypt Bee Honey Beekeeper

Homophones

A homophone is a word that sounds the same as another word, but it has a different meaning and sometimes a different spelling.

For example, a “bee” (the insect) and “to be” (the verb). These are homophones because they are pronounced the same but spelled in a different way and have completely different meanings.

Here is a list of common homophones:

Ask the student to turn to turn to page 14 of the student workbook and review the list of homophones on the page. Then ask them to complete the sentences by drawing the correct picture next to the word.

Funny Homophones

Ask the students to make up nonsensical sentences with homophones and share with the rest of the group to see if they can understand what is being expressed, identifying which two words are the homophones, and where the mix-up lies.

Lesson 2 Pollinators

Flowering plants and insects help each other to grow more plants. This process is called pollination. Insects, like bees and butterflies, are called pollinators. They visit flowers to drink something sweet called nectar. When they move from flower to flower, they carry pollen from one flower to another. When the pollen lands on the right part of a flower, called the pistil, the flower can make fruit, seeds, and sometimes new plants.

Bees and Why They Are Important

Bees are amazing creatures because they take pollen and nectar from flowers to survive, but they don’t hurt the flowers. There are more than 20,000 types of bees in the world!

Bees can be in three groups:

1. Solitary: bees that live alone

2. Social: bees that live in groups, like the honey bee

3. Kleptoparasitic: bees that take food from other bees

Most bees live alone, but honey bees live in groups and are very important to us. They help pollinate crops and make honey from nectar. We need both wild bees and honey bees to help pollinate plants. Honey bee colonies help with the pollination that wild bees do.

To see a list of helpers or “pollinating insects” turn to page 74 of this guide.

Plants and Pollinators

Ask students to turn to page on 15 of the student workbook and observe the different types of pollinators. Then ask them to turn to page 16 and 17 and complete the drawing by adding more trees, plants and flowers with their pollinators.

Spelling Bee

Ask the students to turn to page 18 and 19 of their student workbook. Then have them take the bee cut-out that is posted on page 6 and buzz through the page, transforming the symbols into words using letters.

Spelling Bee Competition

For this activity, you will need:

. A picture of a flower (glued/stuck at the front of the classroom)

. A picture of a flower (glued/stuck at the front of the room)

. The bee cut-out from page 9 of the student work book (one for each student)

A spelling bee is a competition in which children try to spell words correctly. Organize a class spelling bee game by using the words from the workbook. The goal is for each team to reach the flower pinned at the front the classroom.

1. Divide the students into two teams.

2. Ask each student to have their bee cut-outs in their hand.

3. Call out the first word for the first player on Team 1 to spell. If the player spells the word correctly, he/she moves one step forward and the entire team moves forward. If he/she makes a mistake then he/she moves to the back of the line and the team does not move forward.

4. Continue with other teams. The winning team is the first “bee” to reach the flower at the front of the classroom.

Lesson 3 Garden Scouts

Our natural environment has many different elements: there are grasses, flowering bushes, and trees that give pollen. We also have waterholes, ponds, and places like wood crevices and cavities where animals can live. It’s important to learn about these elements because they make up our environment and help keep nature healthy.

Bee Scouts: Helping the Hive

In a beehive, there are special bees called bee scouts. These bees are older and good at flying. They fly far, up to 4 km from the hive, to explore the outside world. Bee scouts look for food and then come back to tell the other bees where to find it. This helps the forager bees save time and energy because they know exactly where to go. This is a great example of how bees work together and use their resources wisely. It shows us how teamwork and sharing can help us take care of our world, just like the bees!

Ask the students to turn to page 20 and 21 of the student workbook and ask them to draw a beefriendly garden full of flowering plants and trees that pollinators, especially bees, like to visit. Students can reference pages 15-18 for ideas of plants to draw.

Nature Hunt

Take your students on a nature walk. It is not necessary to go far, you can go to the school garden or a local park. The goal is to observe the vegetation that is surrounding you.

Students will use their workbooks by putting a check mark next to the things in nature they see on the walk on page 22. Talk about findings as a group.

Nature Hunt Bingo

Use the nature hunt guide as a bingo. When playing in class, use the guide on page 77 of the teacher’s book as a game of bingo to see how many words the students know.

Lesson 4 From Flower to Fruit

For plants to make the seeds, fruits, and vegetables we eat, they need to be pollinated. Pollination happens when pollen from the anther (the male part of the flower) sticks to a pollinator, like a bee. The pollinator then takes the pollen to another flower. There, the pollen sticks to the stigma (the female part of the flower). This helps the flower make seeds and fruit. Many of the fruits and vegetables we eat are thanks to pollinators!

How Bees Help Us

Flowers attract insects so they can help with pollination.When insects pollinate flowers, the flowers can make fruit, which later spreads their seeds. Around the world, about 80% of the plants we grow for food need pollinators, like insects. Of the 100 types of plants that give us 90% of our food, 70 are pollinated by bees! Other pollinators include bumblebees (they help pollinate tomatoes), hornets (they pollinate pumpkins), and bees, flies, and bats, which pollinate avocados. See page 76 of this guide for a list of common insect pollinators in Brazil.

Ask the students to turn to page 23 and complete the parts of a bee.

Pollination Process

Show the students the illustration of the pollination process on page 79 of the Teacher’s Guide.

Then ask them to turn to page 24 and ask them to find the bee and color its legs with yellow chalk or yellow pencil to show the pollen it has collected.

Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is the ability to hear the different sounds in words. When learning a new language, students need to listen to how words sound before they can speak. Changing or adding sounds in words helps students pay attention to the sounds that make up words.

Eating Apples and Bananas Song Game

In this fun song about Apples and Bananas, students will practice phonological awareness by replacing vowel sounds in the words. It’s a fun way to play with sounds while singing about apples and bananas! Sing the first verse of the song I Like to Eat Apples and Bananas, then review vowel sounds and let your students have fun singing the song by switching the vowel sounds.

I Like To Eat Apples and Bananas I like to eat, eat, eat, Apples and bananas

I like to eat, eat, eat, eat Apples and bananas

Now try it with other vowel sounds /o, u/i/a/e

I like to oat, oat, oat, oat Opples and bononos

I like to oat, oat, oat, oat Opples, and bononos

Take Action

One way to help increase biodiversity is by using seed bombs. Seed bombs are balls made of seeds and dirt. They can be thrown into areas that need more plants. This helps create new homes for plants and animals, which increases the variety of life. In cities, there are often roads and buildings that break up green spaces. This makes it hard for plants and animals to move around. Seed bombs can help make ecological corridors. These are paths that connect small green areas, allowing seeds, pollinators, and animals to travel between them. By connecting these spaces, seed bombs help plants grow, bring in pollinators, and allow wildlife to move freely, which is good for nature!

How Seed Bombs Help Nature

Brazil has many kinds of bees, especially the stingless social bees and solitary bees. We can take care of these bees by planting bee-friendly forest with plants from Brazil using seed bombs.

Seed bombs can hold different types of seeds. When we use seed bombs to spread these seeds, we can help restore and expand natural habitats.This means we can create more homes for local wildlife, especially bees, by giving them food and shelter.

Start by making a list of the seeds from nectar-rich flowers that come from native plants that attract pollinators with the students. Turn to page 15 of the student workbook for ideas on plants then research what their seeds look like. Ask the students to turn to page 25 of the student workbook and ask them to make a drawing of the plant together with its fruit/flower and seed.

For this activity, you will need:

. Compost

. Seeds for nectar rich flowers

. Peat

. Water

. One large mixing bowl or small bowls, 1 per group of students.

To make a seed bomb, mix in a large bowl: 5 parts compost, 1part seeds for nectar rich flowers and 1 part peat, with water until the mixture is soft enough to bind together and roll into balls. Ideally each student should make 3 to 4 seed bombs each.

Go on a nature walk with your students and distribute the seed bombs amongst them. When you find a good spot, let your students know that they can throw their seed bombs to help nature. Places include: parks, school yards, community gardens, sidewalks, empty lots or around trees.

Be Social Unit 2

In this unit, students will learn about how bees work together as social creatures. Bees are fascinating creatures that can spark curiosity and empathy in students. They have a complex social structure and special ways of communicating, which makes students want to learn more about nature. This unit explores the sophisticated ways bees communicate, engaging all their senses. Ultimately, their communication has a single purpose: to work together as a team, ensuring their hive thrives and survives!

Lesson 1 Life in the Colony

Bees are social insects. Social insects live in a colony and work together with others. Each insect has a special job based on its role. Most colonies have:

1. A queen, who lays eggs and keeps the group together.

2. Workers, who take care of the eggs, collect food, and build or fix the nest.

3. Soldiers, who protect the colony from enemies. Bees and other insects that live in a colony work as a team to help their colony survive!

Life Cycle of Honey Bees

Honey bees show us how we can build sustainable cities and communities.They live in a colony inside a hive, with up to 80,000 bees—like a small city! Each bee has an important job, but they can’t survive alone. They need to work together as a group. Bees show us that even small actions from each individual can have a big impact on keeping the whole colony healthy. This teaches us how everyone’s contribution helps keep nature balanced and sustainable.

For this activity, you will need:

. Student workbook

. Grains of rice, one per student

. Glue

. Cotton balls, one per student

. Wax

. Pencils

Ask the students to turn to page 28 of their student workbook. Then explan the life cycle of a honey bee:

1. Egg: The life of a honey bee starts as an egg. The queen bee lays these eggs in cells inside the hive. It takes about 3 days for the egg to hatch. [Ask the students to take a grain of rice and glue it in the first honeycomb cell]

2. Larva: After the egg hatches, it turns into a larva. The worker bees feed the larva royal jelly for the first few days, then they switch to feeding it honey and pollen. The larva eats a lot and grows quickly. [Ask the students to shape their cotton ball between their fingers and shape it into a worm. Then have them glue it into the second cell]

3. Pupa: After about 6 days, the larva is ready to spin a cocoon and becomes a pupa. Inside the cocoon, the pupa changes shape and slowly grows into an adult bee. This stage takes around 12 days. [Ask the students to cover the Pupa’s cell with wax.]

4. Adult: Once fully developed, the bee emerges as an adult. If it’s a worker bee, it will start doing its job in the hive. If it’s a queen, she will leave the hive to mate and start laying eggs. Drones (male bees) will leave the hive to mate with queens. [Students now have to draw the adult bee in the last cell]

The entire process from egg to adult takes about 21 days for a worker bee.

Living as One Family

Ask the student life to turn to page 29 . Explain that life in a bee colony is very organized. Each bee has a different role based on their rank, gender, and age.

• Every colony has one queen bee. She is bigger than the other bees and has a golden body. Beekeepers often put a dot on her back to easily find her. The queen’s jobs are to keep the hive together by using a special scent and to lay up to 1,500 eggs a day! If the queen gets too old or isn’t doing her job, the worker bees will make a new queen by feeding a special food, called royal jelly, to the larvae.

• Most of the bees in the hive are female worker bees. They do different jobs depending on their age. When they’re young, they clean the hive and take care of baby bees. As they get older, they start doing things like fanning to keep the hive cool, making wax, guarding the hive, and finally, foraging (collecting food) when they are older.

• Male bees are called drones.There are only a few drones in the hive.Their main job is to mate with a queen from another hive. They also help keep the hive cool by fanning their wings.

Ask the students to observe the three bees on page 29 and describe the differences. Then ask them to measure the bees and write the bees’ length under each bee.

Spot the Queen

Turn to page 30 and ask the students to identify the queen bee.

Collective Nouns

Collective nouns are words we use when we’re talking about a group of things, animals, or people that are all together. For example, instead of saying “many dogs,” we can say “a pack of dogs.”

Here are a few examples of Collective Nouns:

A pack of wolves

A school of fish

A pride of lions

A pod of whales

Ask the students to turn to page 31 of their workbook and ask them to complete the chart with drawings of the single animal or insect or group of animals/insects. Then, ask the students to research their favorite animal and find out whether there is a collective noun for it. Add it to the chart of collective nouns on page 31.

Lesson 2 The Waggle Dance

Most animals have ways to communicate and share information with each other. They use different ways to make sure they can share information, especially animals that live in big groups. Many animals communicate through visual signals.This means they use what they see to send messages, just as bees do with the waggle dance.

Blurry Vision

Bees have good vision, but they see the world very differently from us. To a bee, the world looks like a pixelated picture, kind of like a blurry mosaic. This is because each of their two big eyes is made up of many tiny eyes. Each small eye sees a part of the picture, and together, they create the whole image.

Ask students to turn to page 32 of the student workbook, and complete the activity.

Dancing for Life

Honey bees have developed clever ways to communicate using all their senses. For example, foraging bees use a special body movement called the waggle dance to show other bees where to find nectar-rich flowers or water. They move their bodies in a certain direction and at a certain angle to tell the other bees exactly where to go and how far the food is. Bees have found an amazing way to talk to each other without words, using only body language!

Ask the students to turn to page 33 of their workbook and complete the drawing by finishing the waggle dance and coloring the flowers.

Then explain that once a bee has collected nectar from a flower, it leaves a scent trail to let other bees know that the flower is empty.

The Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance

For this activity, you will need:

. Scissors

. Paper brads or thumb tags, one per student

. Student workbook

Ask the students to turn to page 34 and 35 of their student workbook. Have each student copy or cut out the arrow on the bottom left corner of the page. Then distribute one paper brad or thumb tag per student and ask them to attach their arrow to the center of the circle on page 35.

Then ask them to spin the arrow and write down the Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance instructions on page 34. Repeat 3 times. Once everyone has completed this, ask everyone to stand up and dance!

1. All students should stand in a circle, leaving enough space in-between each person so that students can move without bumping into each other.

2. Choose one student to stand in the middle.Ask the student to read his/her song out loud and mime the actions.

3. The other students should be copying the student in the middle. Look for the song online so that you’re familiar with the tune and after you’ve sung each student’s instructions sing the chorus together before switching students:

Woah-oh, the Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance

Woah-oh, the Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance

Woah-oh, the Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance

Woah-oh, the Hokey Pokey Waggle Dance

That’s what it’s all about!

4. Once they have finished with one student, switch with another.

5. Repeat with as many students as you can.

Lesson 3 The Sound of a Buzz

In Lesson 2, we learned about how animals, especially bees, use visual signals to communicate. Now, we’ll learn how bees use sound to talk to each other. Auditory communication is when animals share information using sounds that others can hear. Examples include mating calls, alarm calls, and sounds like echolocation. In this lesson, we’ll hear how bees use sound to send messages in their hive!

Buzzing Sounds

Have you ever heard a drone (the machine) flying above your head? It sounds just like a bee! This is because both make a buzzing sound. Bees make this sound by flapping their wings 200 times per second. Bees use buzzing sounds to communicate important things, like warning the hive if a predator is near or when they are ready to swarm. Skilled beekeepers can even listen to the buzzing to tell if a colony is healthy. Just like bees, we sometimes use sounds to send messages too, like whistles or horns, when words aren’t possible.

Explore other animal sounds. Ask the students to turn to page 36 of their student workbook and finish the chart by drawing the picture of the insect or animal and then find out what sound it makes. Explore a few animals sounds of your own.

Buzzing Noise Maker Activity

For this activity, you will need:

. Large craft sticks (like a popsicle stick), one per student

. Notecards, per student (the size of a postcard, not longer than the stick)

. Scissors, one per student

. Double-sided tape

. Pieces of double sided sticky foam, per student

. String the length of the student’s arm, one per student

. Wide rubber band, one per student

In this activity, students will make a Buzzing Noisemaker to explore the sound bees make. Here’s how to make it:

1. Cut the two top corners off the long side of a cardboard piece.

2. Attach this end of the cardboard to a craft stick using double-sided tape.

3. Place sticky foam pieces on each side of the stick, letting them hang over the edges.

4. Fold a string over one of the foam pieces, leaving about 5 cm of string at the top, to attach it firmly to the stick.

5. Stretch a rubber band lengthwise down the center of the stick.

6. Tie the ends of the string together.

Now, have students spin their noisemakers and listen for the buzzing sound!

Bee Poetry and Onomatopoeia

Writing bee poetry, allows students to develop both their knowledge on bees as well as their language skills. Many of the words associated with bees are onomatopoeic. Many poets use onomatopoeia as inspiration to write poems!

Here is a poem written by Isaac Watts about Bees:

How doth the Little Busy Bee

How doth the little busy bee

Improve each shining hour, And gather honey all the day

From every opening flower.

Ask the students to turn to page 37 and 38 of their student workbook. Organize your class into pairs and ask them to cut out the words on the page, then ask them to scramble them up.

Ask each pair of students to take turns to choose a word and find its rhyme. Then have them make a poem using the words they have paired up with their rhymes. Below is an additional list of words below with their rhymes:

Bee - see, free, tree

Buzz - fuzz, because, does Busy - dizzy, fizzy, sissy

Fly - high, sky, why, eye Honey - runny, sunny, money Wings - sings, stings, brings Yellow - hello, fellow, mellow

Black - back, sack, pack

Hive - five, dive, thrive

Encourage the students to explore the language in the bee word bank. Once every group has come up with a poem, ask them to share it with the rest of the class.

Lesson 4 Follow Your Nose

Smell communication is when animals use scent to share information. This is helpful because the message stays around even after the animal leaves. For example, when a dog urinates on a spot, he’s leaving a scent to mark his territory. Other animals who come by will know he was there, even if he’s long gone. This lesson is all about the remarkable ways honey bees use their sense of smell as a powerful vehicle for communication.

Scent Bingo

Honey bees use their sense of smell to find food, find their way around, and talk to each other. In a bee colony, smells (called pheromones) help bees communicate and stay organized.

• The queen bee releases a special smell to keep the colony organized.

• Some worker bees fan the hive entrance with a scent to show other bees the way home.

• Bees also use alarm scents to call for help if they need to defend the hive.

• Flowers also use scents to talk to bees! They release a sweet smell to tell bees they are full of nectar and ready for pollination.

Just like bees, we can use smells to send messages, like the scent of flowers or using stinky scents for safety, like detecting gas leaks.

For this activity, you will need:

. A variety of essential oils, for example lavender, thyme, lemon, geranium and orange blossom

. Colored pencils

Ask students to turn to page 39 of their workbook. Put one drop of an essential oil in the first circle of the first row. Have each student smell it and color the next circle in the color the scent it makes them think of. Then, ask them to draw a picture of the fruit, flower, or spice they think it is. Repeat for each different essential oil!

Smelling Synonyms

A synonym is a word that means the same thing as another word. For example, “happy” and “joyful” are synonyms because they both mean the same thing—feeling good! An adjective is a word that describes something. For example, “that smell is sweet”, “sweet” is an adjective because it describes the smell. Exploring synonyms and adjectives can be a great way of developing students’ vocabulary in English.

Ask the students to turn to page 40 of their workbook and look at the first column, which is a list of words that can be used to replace the word “smell” (synonyms). Then look at and talk about the second column of words, which is a list of words that can be used to describe smells (adjectives). Ask the students to find the right word to describe the scents from the previous activity by adding them to the last column on page 39. Then have the students complete the chart on page 40 by drawing something that smells like the description word (adjective).

Take Action

Bees teach us an important lesson about working together as one big family. We can learn from them about the different roles people play in a community. Understanding these roles helps students see how everyone contributes to make our community work. By exploring different jobs and roles, students learn about teamwork, cooperation, and how we all depend on each other. This helps students respect and appreciate the many different jobs people do, building empathy for others in their community.

Meet the Community

Explain that just like bees, when we all do our special jobs and help each other, we can do things better together. Start this activity by asking the children to make a list of jobs that need to be done to keep the classroom neat and tidy. Then ask them to finish the hive on page 41 with the list of jobs that need to be done in your classroom and who needs to complete them. Below is a list of jobs that you can choose from:

Tidying Up

Line Leader

Watering Plants

Class Helper

Snack Helper

Library Helper

Once you’ve completed the activity on the workbook and if you have time, plan to meet older students at your school and find out what roles they have in their classroom or school. Compare a school to a giant beehive.

Friendly Tip

When running this activity, talk about the fact that every job has fun parts and not so fun parts to it, but it’s important for everyone to do their job well just as the bees do in the hive. Use preference sentences “I like to sweep” or “I don’t like to clean”. Remind students that every student will get to do a different job, just as worker bees do. In a hive worker bees start as nurse bees, then go to making wax for the hive, to becoming guard bees to finally becoming foraging - nectar and pollen-collecting -bees.

Bee Architecture Unit 3

The Bee Architects unit explores construction and homes with inspiration from bees’ amazing building skills. Bees are great builders! Their honeycombs are strong and use space efficiently, teaching us about making smart designs that save resources. In this unit, students will learn how bees make the most of space and materials, which can inspire sustainable building ideas for us. Students will also explore beeswax as a natural material and see how bees keep their hives cool or warm naturally, which shows us ways to design buildings that need less heating or cooling. Finally, they learn some fun ways to measure things without any tools—just like bees!

Lesson 1 The Hive

Animals make clever homes to stay safe from dangers like predators, bad weather, and other threats. These homes come in many shapes and sizes—in the ocean, on the prairie, and even on tall mountains! In this lesson, we’ll learn about animal homes as well as how bees build their homes and how they’ve changed throughout the ages.

One Family, Many Homes

Bees, wasps, and yellow jackets build their homes in hives. Honey bees have found a way to live in large groups in small spaces! Beehives can be made of different materials, such as wood, straw, mud or even in tree trunks, depending on where and when they were built. Inside the hives, bees construct honeycombs using wax from their bodies. Wax is great for building because it’s strong, light, and can be shaped easily. Thanks to this smart building method, a hive can hold up to 80,000 bees in a small area—just the right home for a big bee family!

Ask the students to turn to page 43. Discuss the differences in the beehives (shape, color and material). Then ask them to match the material - straw, wood, mud or branch/tree trunk, with the type of hive.

A Home for the Family of Bees

Ask the students if they have seen a real beehive.What did it look like? Encourage them to be specific about what materials the beehive was made of.

Next, look at the materials on page 43 of the workbook. Then, turn to page 44 and ask students to create their own beehive using materials they think bees would like best. Discuss how using natural and sustainable materials can help us build better cities too!

Animal Homes

Explain to students that animal homes are very different and depend on where they live, what kind of animal they are, and how big they are. Here are some types of animal homes:

Webs: spiders

Hives: bees, wasps, and yellow jackets.

Den: bears

Cave: bats

Burrows and holes: foxes and rabbits

Nests: birds

Hollow Logs: otters, skunks, and weasels

Tree Hollows: squirrels and owls

Coop: chicken

Ask the students to turn to page 45 in the workbook. Complete the activity by matching each animal with its home. Discuss with the class what materials they think the homes are made from.

Next, turn to page 46 and ask the students to draw their dream house! When everyone is finished, ask them to share their drawing with the class and describe what makes it their dream house.

Animal Home Matching Game

For this activity, you will need:

. Pencils and colored pencils

. Scissors

. Student workbook, page 47 and 48

1. Ask the students to turn to page 47. In the top box, have them draw their favorite animal, and in the bottom box, draw its home.

2. Have the students carefully tear out the page from the workbook and then cut out the two boxes with the drawings.

3. Once everyone is done, gather all the drawings and shuffle the papers.

4. Turn them upside down so that the drawings are hidden. Create neat rows of the papers on one desk.

5. Form groups for a fun matching game!

In this memory matching game, each team will take turns flipping over two sheets of paper at a time to try to match an animal with its corresponding home. The team or pair that correctly finds and names the most animal/home pairs wins the game!

Lesson 2 Shapes in Nature

Nature has many geometric shapes. You can find circles in fruits, triangles in plants, and hexagons in beehives. A hexagon has six sides and is a very special shape. It is the most common geometric shape in nature and appears in beehives, crystals, plants, and snowflakes. Hexagons are strong and efficient, which is why they are often used in nature. If you want something to support a lot of weight, a hexagon is the best choice! This is why bees have used hexagons in their building strategies.

The Hexagons in the Honeycombs

Hexagons is a special shape because it fits together perfectly without wasting any space. Bees know this! That’s why bees use hexagons in their honeycomb. This helps them create a strong structure using less wax while having plenty of room for honey and their young bees. Bees make these hexagons by chewing on wax until it’s soft.Then, they shape it by creating circles and using their body heat to mold the wax into perfect hexagons.

Ask the students to turn to page 49 of their workbook and complete the page featuring the most hexagons, coloring it yellow when they finish. Next, they should turn to page 50 and observe the image of a honeycomb. Prompt the students to discuss what they notice about the cells and encourage them to share their observations. Finally, the students should be asked to complete the honeycomb by adding pollen, honey, or baby bees inside the cells.

Shapes

Explain to the students that math can be seen everywhere including nature.The math of shapes is called geometry and deals mainly with lines, angles and shapes.The most common geometric shapes are: circles, squares, rectangles, hexagons, stars and triangles and can be described using sides and corners (angles).

Ask the students to turn to page 51 of their workbook and match the shape with its description. Then research other shapes that can be found in nature. Discuss your answers as a group.

Lesson 3 Body Ruled Measurements

Measuring our world is crucial for how both humans and animals interact with it. When measuring tools aren’t available, we can use body parts to measure things. For example, we can use the length of a foot, the width of a finger, or the distance of a step. Animals also have unique ways to measure distance and size. Bats and dolphins use echolocation by sending out high-frequency sounds and listening for the echoes that come back. This helps them figure out how far away objects are and their size and shape. Similarly, migratory animals like some insects use magnetoreception to sense the Earth’s magnetic field, helping them navigate during long migrations.

Festooning Bees

Human’s aren’t the only ones who measure things. Bees do too! They do this by linking up together in a single line, in what looks like a chain, connected to each other by their legs.This is called festooning. The word “festoon” actually refers to party decorations, like garlands, that are linked together just as bees do. This way bees don’t need tools or instruments, they can just use their bodies. They do this when building a new comb or repairing an old one to create a scaffolding as well as measuring the distance between the combs.

Ask the students to turn to page 52 of their workbook, then ask them to use the bee on the side of the picture to measure the number of bees that are needed to connect each honeycomb section together. Then, ask them to count the bees it takes and write them down under each column of bees.

They have just used the same method bees do to build their honeycombs!

Units of Measurement

There are many types of measurements that were taken from body parts. Here are a few examples:

• Inch: An inch was the width of a man’s thumb 1 inch = 2.54 cm

• Hand: A hand was approximately 5 inches across 1 hand = 10 cm (today it’s 4 inches and used to measure horses, from the ground to the horse’s shoulders).

• Span: A span is the length of the hands stretched out (about 9 inches or 22.86 cm).

• Foot: In Ancient times, 111/42 inches (today it’s 12 inches or 30.48cm).

• Yard: In Ancient times, the length of a man’s belt (today it is 36 inches or 91.44cm).

• Cubit: Used in Ancient Egypt, the distance from the elbow to the fingertips (today it’s about 18 inches).

• Pace: Used in Ancient Rome, distance of the length of a double step, i.e. 5 feet. 1,000 paces made a mile

Review names of body parts (feet, hands, thumbs, waist, elbow, fingers, etc). Ask the students to turn to page 53 of their workbook and to measure the width of their thumb to calculate “an inch”, the width of their hand to calculate “a hand”, the length of their foot to calculate a “foot”. They can use the ruler on the page or a piece of yarn that then gets measured up against the ruler on the the page. See who has the closest value to the actual units of measure as seen above.

Lesson 4 Bee Inspired Architecture

In Lesson 1, we learned the names of different animal homes. However, not all animals build their homes with the same amount of care. In this lesson, we’re going to see how some of best home builders in the animal kingdom have inspired architects in designing houses, buildings and even cities, especially bees.

Award-Winning Bee Architecture

The hexagonal structures in honey bee hives have earned them a place as some of nature’s best architects. Their honeycombs are efficient, strong, and make the most of available space. By studying these designs, students can gain inspiration for creating sustainable and efficient structures. Bees teach us about using space well, saving resources, and building in modular ways that can apply to human architecture. Additionally, bees’ ability to control temperature and airflow in their hives inspires ideas for energy-efficient buildings that rely less on artificial heating and cooling. Below are examples showing how the clever design of beehives has influenced and inspired environmentally friendly architecture for people:

1. The Hive (Kew Gardens, London, UK):The Hive is a large-scale installation designed to mimic a beehive and is located at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.The structure uses honeycomb-inspired patterns and lighting effects to raise awareness about the importance of bees and their role in pollination.

2. Honeycomb Towers (Guangzhou, China): These Honeycomb Towers in Guangzhou feature a honeycomblike pattern on the building’s exterior.The hexagonal grid allows for natural ventilation and sunlight penetration while providing an aesthetic connection to the intricate structures found in beehives.

3. The Beehive (Wellington, New Zealand): The Beehive is the popular name for the executive wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings in Wellington. Its distinctive shape of the building resembles a series of stacked beehives.

4. Puerta América Hotel (Madrid,Spain):The PuertaAmérica Hotel’s exterior incorporates a hexagonal pattern reminiscent of honeycombs, drawing inspiration from bee architecture.

5. City of Sciences and Arts (Valencia, Spain): The City of Sciences and Arts complex in Valencia includes several buildings with organic and biomimetic design features.The Hemisfèric, in particular, has a curved, ribbed roof that resembles a giant eye or insect exoskeleton, evoking a bee or other natural forms.

Ask the students to turn to page 54 of their workbook. Discuss what makes bees one of nature’s top architects. Here are a few points to remind students:

• Hexagonal beehive structures make honey bees nature’s top architects.

• Honeycombs are efficient, strong, and maximize space.

• Bees inspire sustainable design concepts like resource efficiency and modular structure.

• Their temperature and airflow control in hives suggests ideas for energy-saving buildings.

• Bee-inspired designs have influenced environmentally friendly human architecture.

Then ask them to draw their bee-inspired building.

Hexagonal Shaped Buildings

For this activity, you will need:

. Moldable beeswax, a small piece per student

. Toothpicks, 50 or more per group

Split the class into smaller groups of 2-4 students. Provide each group with some wax and 50 or more toothpicks each.Then ask them to make hexagonal shaped buildings by connecting the toothpicks together using small balls of wax in hexagonal shapes and build the strongest, tallest structure they can in 25 minutes. Ask them to name their structure.

Words with Numbers

In English and many other languages, number prefixes come from numerals and are used to form new words.

• Uni – one, unicycle (one wheeled vehicle)

• Bi – two, bicycle (two wheeled vehicle)

• Tri – three, tricycle (three wheeled vehicle)

• Quadri – four, quadruped (four legs)

• Quin or penta – five, pentagon (five angles)

• Sexa or hexa – six, hexagon (six angles)

Ask the students to complete page 55 of their workbook by drawing the picture of the number-word example. Then look for more words that have numbers in them.

Take Action

Honeycomb structures inspired by bees can be seen in many city designs:

• Buildings: Look for facades, windows, or interiors with hexagonal patterns.

• Sidewalks and public areas: Some cities use hexagonal tiles or pavers.

• Parks and playgrounds: Play structures often use hexagonal shapes in climbing walls, nets, or platforms for both function and style.

Organize an outing to take your students to visit your city or town. Spot and document unusual architecture or structures that are inspired by bees and have the students draw their favorite one on page 56 of their workbook.You’ll be surprised by how many you’ll spot if you keep your eyes open.

Once back in your classroom, turn to page 57 of the workbook and ask the students to color the city. Ask them to find any bee-inspired shapes or hexagons on the page by coloring them in yellow. How many did they find?

Friendly Tip

Look for bee-inspired landmarks prior to taking your students out, this way you’ll know which direction to wonder and have positive results!

Bee Architecture Hunt

Bees and Human Beings Unit 4

This unit covers the interaction between Humans and bees. Today bees are facing various challenges that impact their survival. Some of these challenges include habitat loss, pesticide use, changes in weather patterns and diseases. Teaching students about these threats, raises awareness and encourages them to take action to protect bees and their habitats. It also provides an opportunity to discuss broader environmental issues and the importance of sustainable practices in our daily lives.

Lesson 1 The Beekeeper

Beekeeping tools, hives, and methods have changed a lot over time. In the last unit, we learned that hives differ by time and place. In this unit, we’ll take a look at today’s tools—like the bee veil, gloves, smoker, hive tool, and removable-frame hive box—which have evolved greatly over time and are designed to protect beekeepers and make hive maintenance easier. Most importantly, we’ll learn that the relationship between bees and Humans started in the beginning of time.

The Beekeeper Throughout Time

In Brazil, the Tupi-Guarani indigenous tribe from the Atlantic tell a wonderful story of how the world was made and how the bee helped made it more beautiful. This is a very old story.

Read the story to the students, then ask them to draw a picture of what they heard on page 59 of their workbook.

The Legend of the Bee and the Creation of the World

A long time ago, there was only darkness and a big, empty ocean. The great creator, Tupã, wanted to make something special, so he created the Earth with land, mountains, rivers, and forests. But something was missing—there were no flowers or plants!

Tupã decided to create a little creature called a bee. He asked the bee to fly around and spread seeds so that flowers and plants could grow. The bee worked really hard, buzzing from one flower to another, helping them bloom and make the world beautiful.

As a reward, Tupã gave the bee a special gift—the ability to make honey, which is sweet and delicious for everyone to enjoy. The bee was happy, and thanks to its hard work, the Earth was full of colorful flowers and plants.

And that’s how the bee helped make the world a beautiful place!*

*Source: “Myths of the Tupi-Guarani Indians” by Nimuendaju

The Beekeepers’ Tools

Beekeepers use a number of tools to help them care for their bees. Look at the image on page 80 and identify all the tools that a beekeeper has with him/her. Then ask the students to turn to page 60 and connect the right word with its tool.

Making a Language Toolbox

For this activity, you will need:

. Address book, one per student . Tablets or phones, language apps . Internet, video content (e.g.YouTube)

1. Make a dictionary: Ask students to create their own dictionary by using an address book with letters on it and adding all the new words they learnt in the address book, together with a definition of the word and/or its translation.

2. Use technology: download an interactive language app to support English language learning and see how students are progressing.

3.Watch video content in English: YouTube is a fantastic resource, use it! For example, check out the National Geographic page and look up Bee videos: https://www.youtube.com/@NatGeo to learn more about these fascinating creatures.

Lesson 2 As Sweet As Honey

Honey is a sweet, sticky substance made by honey bees from flower nectar. Bees store honey in honeycombs to feed their colony when needed. Humans have collected honey for thousands of years. In fact, jars of honey were found in the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun—and it was still edible after 3,000 years!

Honey, the Forever Food

Honey is one of the few foods that lasts forever! Bees make it from flower nectar by adding enzymes that turn it into simple sugars and fan the honey to remove moisture from it. Honey doesn’t need to be refrigerated and is easy to harvest. Beekeepers extract it using a honey extractor, filter it, and then bottle it. Plus, honey is very healthy for is a natural sweetener too. Thank you, bees!

Brazilian Honey Cakes (Pao de Mel)

~

Ingredients

- 1 cup of honey

- 1 cup of milk

- 2/1 cup of sugar

- 4/1 cup of cocoa powder

- 2 cups of all-purpose flour

- 1 teaspoon of baking soda

- 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

- 2/1 teaspoon of ground cloves

- 2/1 teaspoon of ground nutmeg

- 2/1 cup of melted butter

- 2 eggs

Read the instructions aloud to the students:

1. Preheat Oven: Set your oven to 175°C.

2. Mix Wet Ingredients: In a bowl, mix honey, milk, melted butter, and eggs until smooth.

3. Combine Dry Ingredients: In another bowl, sift together flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

4. Blend Ingredients: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until well combined.

5. Bake: Pour the batter into a greased baking pan or muffin tin. Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, then let the honey bread cool.

Then ask the students to turn to page 61 of their workbook and number the instructions in the right order. Have them draw the instructions above each explanation. If possible, make the recipe with the students.

Similes

A simile compares two things using the words “as” or “like” to show that they are similar in some way. This is formed in the following way:

“ as + adjective + as”.

One common expression that is used to describe a food or a person is “as sweet as honey”. In this case, it’s comparing someon’s or something’s sweetness to honey.

Ask the students to turn to page 62 of their workbooks and complete the page on similes.

Making a Language Toolbox

Time permitting, combine this activity with a tasting activity. Have honey, lemon, salt and chocolate available for tasting and distribute small samples of each flavor. Ask the students to describe the flavors. Encourage them to use the words from the workbook to describe the flavors and then ask them to find something that is as “sweet”, “sour”, “spicy”, “salty” or “bitter” as what they tasted. Make sure you’ve checked for food allergies first.

Lesson 3 Mind Your Beeswax

Beeswax is a natural and renewable product that serves as a sustainable alternative to synthetic waxes. Honey bees produce beeswax to create hexagonal honeycombs for storing pollen and honey and for raising their young (eggs and larvae). It also helps keep the hive healthy and protected. Worker bees make beeswax from honey by converting its carbohydrates into liquid wax. They start producing it in Spring when there’s plenty of nectar. The wax hardens in the air, forming wax scales. This material can be used in different ways and is never wasted.

Beeswax, A Natural Material that Changes Form

Wax is a handy material with many uses, like making candles, crayons, and food wraps. When heated, wax becomes soft and can be shaped easily. After it cools, it hardens again, making it great for different projects and products. Bees use it to make their honeycombs. They even eat it when there is no honey left in the hive!

Ask the students to turn to page 63 of their workbooks and draw an arrow in the direction of how the items made of beeswax changed over time. Research and talk about more items that are made of beeswax.

Fun fact! Each wax scale is like a tree, under a microscope you can see the different layers of wax much like you can see the rings on a tree!

Madame Tussauds Wax Figures

For this activity, you will need:

. Moldable beeswax sticks, in variety of colors, a few pieces per student

. Labels, for each beeswax statue

. Optional: stands for the statues

Beeswax is a fun substance to manipulate, not just for bees! It can be used to make all sorts of things. In fact, there is a very famous museum in London called Madame Tussauds displaying statues made of wax of famous people. Most wax figures are made from paraffin wax, but some parts are made from beeswax! Today, students are going to make their own wax museum by molding animals and people from bees- wax.

1. Distribute pieces of beeswax amongst students and ask them to warm it up in their hands, so that it is easier to mold, just as bees do when they mold wax into hexagons.

2. Then allow their creativity to run free!

3. Once all students have made their statues, put them together and label them to finish your museum.

Beeswax and Other Compound Words

A compound noun is a noun made up of two or more words that come together to create a new meaning. For example:

“ladybug” combines “lady” and “bug” to refer to an insect.

Other examples include:

“beehive” (bee + hive)

“rainbow” (rain + bow).

Explore other nature-inspired compound nouns with your students. Ask the students to turn to page 64 of their workbooks and make new words by joining the two smaller words together. Then have them draw the picture of the new word they formed. Ask the students to invent their own compound nouns inspired by nature!

Lesson 4 Busy Bees

Bees are truly remarkable creatures with so much to teach us. In the hive, there’s never a dull moment, as each bee has a vital role to play.This constant activity is why we call people who stay busy “Busy Bees.” However, bees are now facing serious threats, which puts us at risk too. It’s essential that we do our part to help protect and save them.

Doing Our Part

Bees are important for our environment, and including things that support their habitat with natureinspired (biophilic) design connects people with nature and improves well-being. Teaching students about green spaces, pollinator-friendly gardens, and bee habitats can help them appreciate nature and understand the need to live in harmony with it.

Ask the students to turn to page 65 and talk about how building a bee hotel for solitary bees is one way to help provide them with a safe place to live and nest. Have students draw their bee hotels. Remind them that helping bees supports nature and a healthier biodiversity on our planet.

Make a Bee Pond

For this activity, you will need:

. Small saucers, one per group • Stones, 3-4 per group

. Corks, 1-2 per group

. Water

1. Organize students into groups of 4.

2. Give each group materials.

3. Have them fill the saucer with pebbles and water so bees have a safe place to land and drink without drowning.

4. Explain that bees need water to drink and cool their hive in hot weather.

5. Note that bees prefer “dirty” water, so there’s no need to change it—just add more when it gets low.

6. Place the saucers outside in a safe place, and observe if bees come to them.

Animal Sayings

Nature has inspired us for a long time, and we often use it to describe people or situations. For example, calling someone a “busy bee” means they like to do many things and are always active. Ask the students to turn to page 66 of their workbook and ask them to complete these fun animal sayings:

“Crocodile tears” – Pretending to be sad.

“The early bird catches the worm” – If you start something early, you have a better chance of success.

“Let the cat out of the bag” – To reveal a secret.

“Fish out of water” – Feeling uncomfortable in an unfamiliar situation.

“Hold your horses” – Be patient and wait.

Take Action

Beekeepers play a vital role in our community. When done sustainably, they help pollinate crops and boost biodiversity. Visiting a bee farm provides a great educational experience that combines science, nature, and environmental awareness. It helps students appreciate bees and encourages responsibility for the environment while promoting interest in science and sustainability.

At bee farms, students can engage in hands-on activities, see bees up close, watch them collect nectar, and learn about their unique behaviors. This direct interaction helps students understand bees and the natural world better, and it can even help those who are afraid of bees by allowing them to observe in a safe environment. Additionally, students will learn about the various activities related to beekeeping.

If visiting a bee farm is not a possibility, you can often find stingless bee apiaries in botanical gardens or parks. Find out if there is one nearby you can take your students to.

Visit a Bee Farm

Activities at a bee farm include:

. Seeing bees up close

. Watching bees forage for nectar

. Observing the complex social structure of the beehive

. Learning about the life cycle of bees and the organization and hierarchy of the beehive

. Exploring the process of honey production

. Honey tasting

. Candle-making

If some of your students don’t feel comfortable around bees, you can plan on focusing on learning about bee-related products such as honey or wax. Many bee farms organize workshops like candle making or honey extracting and/or tasting.

Ask the students to turn to page 67 and have them draw a picture of what they saw. Then discuss things that you can do together to help bees and write down a “Bee Manifesto” on page 68.

Plants and their Pollinators

Midges [tiny flies that inhabit the rainforest.]

[tiny stingless black bee with yellow stripes.]

[small

with black and yellow stripes.]

Jataí

“Mandaçaia

stingless bee

Monarch Butterfly

Cashew fruits and nut Honey bee

Cacao bean

Passion fruit

Mango

Papaya

Nature Hunt Guide

Sun

Leaf

Stick

Rain

Flower Tree

Cloud

Bee

Sprout

Parts of a Bee

head antennae wing

thorax

leg

abdomen

Pollination Process

The Beekeepers’ Tools

Hive Scraper

Boots Smoker

Gloves

Beekeeper’s Hat

5.

1. Bee Manifesto

Bibliography

Ask a Biologist, The Way of the Waggle Dance, https://askabiologist.asu.edu/bee-dance-game

Bolakhe, S. (2021). The Surprising Architecture in Bees’ Honeycombs. Scientific American.

Cameron, S.A., & Sadd, B.M. (2020). Global Trends in Bumble Bee Health. Annual review of entomology, 65, 209-232.

Center for Food Safety, Impacts on the Food Supply, https://www.centerforfoodsafety.org

DeCoito I., Patchen, A., Knobloch N., and Esters L. (2021). Teaching and Learning in Urban Agricultural Community Contexts. Urban Agriculture. Springer.

Engdahl, I. (2015). Early childhood education for sustainability: The OMEP world project. International Journal of Early Childhood, 47(3), 347–366. doi:10.1007/s13158-015-0149-6.

Germanidou, S. (2020). The Ancient Lands of Honey: Middle East, Egypt, Greece. Friends of Asor https://www.asor.org

Hagglund, S., & Pramling Samuelsson, I. (2009). Early childhood education and learning for sustainable development and citizenship. International Journal of Early Childhood, 41(2), 49–63.

International Association of Agricultural Museums. How Has Beekeeping Changed Over Time? https://www.agriculturalmuseums.org

Norton H. (2017). Honey, I Love You: Our 40,000 Year Relationship with the Humble Bee. The Guardian.

OMEP. (2016). Resource Bank on Early Childhood Education and ESD. OMEP (World Organisation for Early Childhood Education). Retrieved from http://eceresourcebank.org/

Pollinator Live, A Distance Learning Adventure. https://pollinatorlive.pwnet.org/index.php

Pollinators, https://www.pollinator.org/pollinated-food

Pramling Samuelsson I., and Park E. (2017). How to Educate Children for Sustainable

Learning and for a Sustainable World, Springer. Rensvold J. (2021). Beeswax: The Building Blocks of The Hive. https://www.saratogateaandhoney.com

Ritchie, H. (2021). How Much of the World’s Food Production is Dependent on Pollinators? Our World in Data https://ourworldindata.org

Smith, M.L., Napp, N., and Petersen K.H. (2021). Imperfect Comb Construction Reveals the Architectural Abilities of Honeybees. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Vol. 118; August 3, 2021

The House of Commons (2005). Education and Skills Committee Reports

United Nations, Sustainable Development, https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/studentresources

United Nations, Sustainable Development Goals, https://www.un.org/en/sustainable-developmentgoals

United Nations Development Program, Buzzing with Life, https://bees.undp.org

Vincent, D. (2021) How Bees Influence and Innovate Resilient Buildings. Best Bees https://bestbees.com

Based on Just Bee© by Hoopla Education Pte. Ltd. 2023 Wilkie Road, 01-03#, Wilkie Edge, 228095, Singapore www.hooplaeducation.com

Published under license. First Published in 2024, by Macmillan Education do Brasil.

Author : Angelica Manca

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