The year fours are learning all about the lifecycle of flowering plants this term. So far we have closely observed seeds, before and after soaking them, to study how they change and begin the process of germination. We then planted some seeds in cups and plastic baggies so we could watch the seed grow and change into a seedling.
Next, we studied flowers, carefully examining and discussing the parts of a flower and its role in the plants lifecycle. This week we delved further into the wonder that is pollination. We had fun using of flower model, which was an ice-cream container of cheese and bacon balls (pollen) and Starburst lollies (nectar). On top of the container was placed a ‘flower’ which had a sticky centre. The students had to search for nectar in the container, getting pollen all over their hand. They then had to move on to search for more nectar in the next flower, spreading the pollen from their hand onto the sticky centre of the next flower.
Lastly, some of us worked together to create a little basic stop motion movie demonstrating how a bee spreads pollen from one flower to another.