Science Fair project for kindergartner?

[Flygirl]

Hi Everyone ~
My 6 year old son who's helped me with our bees for the past 3 years wants to do a science fair project about our honey bees.  Has anyone done a project like this with their child(ren)?  It's not a good time of year for a project as our bees haven't made it through the winter & our new bees don't arrive until April. 

We have a journal we've kept for the past 3 years & were thinking we could maybe do a project around the types of flowers the bees were attracted too or the amount of honey in relation to the temperature?  I'm pretty sure I have those things documented(?) & we have lots of photos.  i don't really care so much about proving the hypothesis (or even really having a hypothesis) but just working through the project so my son has the experience of the science fair & learns more about the honey bee.  He's very enthusiastic so I'd like to help him with this over spring break which is next week.

Any ideas or recommendations?  Thanks everyone ~ I appreciate your expertise.  :)  FG

[greenbtree]

Either one is bound to be better than a baking soda volcano... :-D  Do you have any dead bees that you could soften in warm water to mount on a piece of cork?  Use a few large pictures on a back board - they even sell three way cardboard backboards for presentations at Walmart (I assume Anchorage has a Walmart?  Can't imagine that there is anywhere in the US that Walmart has not invaded, but I could be wrong.)

JC

[uglyfrozenfish]

Do you have any of the old comb left?  Even better if you still had comb with honey, pollen or capped brood.   You could show the different parts of a hive and how they are used.

You could use the hive to talk about the life cycle of the bees and their purpose.  Most of the moms should get a kick out of the fact that the male drones are there to be fed by the worker girls.  And that the boys get kicked out in the winter to die. 


You might talk about the distances that bees will travel to collect nectar and pollen; you could  put up a detail of a map and shade in a circle of where the bees will fly too.

If all else fails pull a video of JP doing a removal and set it on a loop.  That is always entertaining, especially if Emil is doing his gnat dance. 

Good luck and have fun.


Lee

[indypartridge]

You might find some ideas here...
http://www.honey.com/nhb/downloads/educational/

[Flygirl]

THANK YOU everyone for the ideas ~ all great.  JC ~ My husband suggested the volcano idea but I nixed that!  What is it about volcanos, boys & science projects??  :)

Yes, Anchorage has at least 3 or 4 Walmarts so the display board is a good idea to post pictures & information.  We could raid the dead hive (as it needs to be cleaned out) & try to find the marked queen, worker & drones.

The rules of the science project is that you're supposed to have a hypothesis & then do a study to try to prove your question.  I think we may just  offer information.  I also like the idea of the map with  a radius circled & the video idea ~ thanks Lee!  We have one of those small photo frames that shows revolving photos so that might be cool for the JP video.  I think the videos would be a big hit!

JP....if you're out there do I have permission to use one of your videos? 

Thanks everyone for your help.  I'll let you know if my son wins a prize ~ he's excited.  FG

[Flygirl]

Hey Indy ~
I just checked out the site you recommended & it's wonderful.  Thanks for sharing ~ the downloads & educational info will be very helpful. FG

[ziffabeek]

Since you have the empty comb for "research", if you could think of a question about the comb (range of size, cell thickness, difference in comb in the center of the frame vs outer frame) and then ask you son what he thinks the answer might be (Do you think there is a difference, even tiny, in the size of the cells?  How do you think the cells might be different in the center vs. the outer? Bigger vs smaller, darker vs lighter)  Even if the theory seems simple or is something already known to us (but maybe not your son), it's the process that your son will learn.  Think, ask, question, then prove/disprove through study. You can measure cells, count dark cells vs lighter cells and note their location.  Even if you don't "prove" anything other than old comb is dark and new comb is light, it cans still be "scientific". Your presentation could include the question, his answer, and then the results with pictures or actual frames etc.

Just a thought how to make it informational and still include the "science" part of it!!  In any case, I hope you both have a blast with it!

love,
ziffabeek   

[edward]

Sorry to hear that your bees didn't make it trough the winter  :'(

It s great that u have the next generation of beekeepers in learning  :-D

Why not do i science project on why your bees didn't make it through the winter , how to prevent , make sure they survive this year + how you are going to replace your bees , where and how you get your newbees , how you install them.

What do the bees do besides gathering honey ?

Lots of luck , most people are fascinated by bees  ;)

mvh edward  :-P

[Flygirl]

Thanks Edward & Ziffabeek ~

You both sound like scientists!  You both outlined great projects so I'm going to copy off this whole string & discuss it with my boy & let him choose which project of all the ideas he'd like to create.  I had thought about a project related to why the bees didn't make it through the winter too but you really clarified it Edward.  I also checked with the teache consultant on projects & she said it's fine to present something purely informational. 

Thanks again everyone for your willingness to help me with project ideas.  I'm excited & I know my son will be too.  FG

[edward]

Nope , not a scientist , just bee addicted , the sad thing is it took 36 years to come up with the idea that I could bee a beekeeper and make my own honey.

I think its great that your kids are interested , hope that they have allot of fun.

mvh edward  :-P