Bumblebee Mystery

Bumblebee Mystery Organiser’s Card About the activity This activity is designed to get children thinking about pollinators and their habitats. The investigators have been sent a letter asking for help. The Buzzabout family don’t see as many bumblebees as they used to and want to do a survey across the country to see where they are. Through this activity you will support your group to: • Learn about different kinds of pollinators and how to identify them • Learn about different kinds of plants that attract pollinators • Think about the importance of pollination Kit list • Pollinator identification key • Pollinators card sort • Bumblebee-friendly plants card sort What to do 1. Introduce the activity using the letter. 2. Give out activity cards and equipment to the children. 3. Explain that they will be surveying the local area for bumblebees . 4. Encourage children to discuss their ideas and how to carry out their investigations. 5. Support children to conduct their investigation and make their own records of their results. They might like to make a tally chart. 6. Ask the children to present their findings to the rest of the group, they can be as creative in their presentation as they want. Children can make a chart of their observations. They can create a plan or guide to show how to make the area more bumblebee friendly

Things to think about It is possible that you will not find bumblebees, but it is important to let the children find out for themselves if there are any. They can note other pollinators that they find. Lack of bumblebees leads naturally into designing a more bumblebee-friendly environment. If you are able to make some changes, you can carry out more observations to see if they have had an impact. Keywords • Bees • Pollen • Pollinators • Survey Watch out! Ensure children do not touch any plants or animals Find out if any children have allergies to bee stings. Follow your organisation’s guidelines for outdoor work. Find out more There are about 250 species of bumblebee around the world and 25 in the UK. Six of these are commonly found. The decline of bumblebees seems likely to be due to changes in farming practices, the use of insecticides and the lack of natural habitats. This decline threatens biodiversity, food supplies and human health. A significant proportion of our food relies on pollinators such as bumblebees. British bumblebees live in many different environments. Most areas should be able to attract them; sometimes they just need some encouragement by planting the right type of plants. British Science Association Registered Charity No. 212479 and SC039236