Giving a demo to 2nd graders

[buddy93]

My daughters 2nd grade teacher ask if I could come to her class and give some kind of demonstration about bees any ideas- 10 boys and 10 girls how do you go about telling them the main function of a drone ?

[annette]

Last year I did several presentations to various age school children.

I walked in with my full bee outfit and veil on carrying a smoker. Kept it very simple. Brought in a medium wooden nuc and explained all the parts of the hive to them, showed them various photos of bees and explained the different types of bees (worker, drone, queen), I had them all try on the veils and they really loved this part. Then I took photos of them with the veils on.

Then I passed around beeswax for them to touch and smell and explained how the bees made this wax.

Then we had a honey tasting as I brought in a frame of honey. They ate the honey right off the frame, comb and all.

Then I showed them an observation hive and they got to see the live bees.

We did a lot of questions and answers. Like:

"Does anyone know where honey comes from"
"Does anyone know how they make the honey"


With small children you need to keep it very short. About 20 minutes as they get restless.

I did do these presentations with another beekeeper which made it easier as we bounced off each other. When the children seemed distracted by my talking, she would jump in and renew their interest.

I believe Linda has some information on giving presentations to children as she does this all the time.


http://beekeeperlinda.blogspot.com/#uds-search-results

You can try and search for her posts here or email her on her blog.

Good luck and let us know how it all goes. I can always use some pointers myself.

Annette

[jmblakeney]

Very good pointers Annette. 

[ArmucheeBee]

I teach 2nd grade.  You tell the truth so as not to get any crazy questions and then move on.  Also, they are 7 and 8 not 10.  "Drones are the kings.  They are taken care of all spring and summer, but in the fall they start eating too much and they are thrown out!"  The kids like that.  "New drones are made by the queen next year."  You do not need to get into any mating dialogue.  If they were 10 like my 5th grade daughter then you could.  But if you mention mating you are in trouble--mating is an unknown-mystical thing in Primary School. You never want to hear "what is mating?"   Don't touch it--if you are in a religously, conservative area then you may get some parent calls too!  I've had those!

[Acebird]

if you are in a religously, conservative area then you may get some parent calls too!  I've had those!

Keep it simple.  The drone is the daddy and the queen is the mommy and all the other bees are the children that have to do what mommy says.  There is no need to go into a biology lesson.

Samples of honey is a great idea but I would get a parents sign off on that first.  No sense in tangling with Suzy or Johny is allergic to this and that after the fact.

[BlueBee]

My 3rd grade nephew wants to show my bees to his class this spring.  I'm also debating how to best do this.  I like the idea of showing the kids live bees (observation hive), but I worry about an accident where the bees get out.  Accidents happen, that's why they're called accidents.  Beeks are calm around bees, teachers are less so, plus there is a valid safety concern.   I'm a little infamous at the school already for having some giant silk moths get loose in the classroom. 

Any suggestions about safety and live bees around kids?  Instead of an observation nuc, I'm pondering just taking a regular nuc and doing an inspection outside the class room windows with the kids inside and me outside.  The idea is the kids could see the bees thru the window and there would/should be less chance of an accident.  Any thoughts on that?

[tillie]

I teach them the circle dance and the waggle dance and we all do it together - they love it.  

I also have some bee coloring pages done by U of Arizona and I give those to them as take-homes.  

I bring a bee I bought at Michael's and a large flower I bought at Michaels and show them how the bee gets pollen all over her and then flies home.  They can act out getting pollen all over their bodies and flying home.  

There are so many ways to help them learn a lot about the hive in a very simple way.  I take a medium nuc box with drawn comb.  I also take old comb (loose) and pass it around for them to feel and imagine how it might feel with honey in it.  Then I show them cut comb and we compare the empty old comb with the heavy cut comb of about the same size.

Have a great time and teach them something useful as well!

Linda T in Atlanta

[tillie]

Note:  Put "elementary school" in the search window on my blog and lots of stuff comes up.

I have also taken first grade Tiger Scouts to the apiary.  It involved waivers signed and a parent with each kid, but the experience was a hoot and I know it was unforgettable for them. 

I told the boys to move very slowly around the beehives so that we wouldn't startle the bees.  We walked up to the Blue Heron hives and when we got to the beginning of the apiary, I said, "OK, now is the time to start moving very slowly."  I looked behind me as I moved toward the hives and the little boys were walking like they were in slow motion - I wish I had a video of it. :-D :-D :-D

Linda T

[organicfarmer]

i did go to my daughter's 2nd gr. classroom. They loved all the paraphanelia (smoker, veil, tool, combs...), the pictures of bees... when i saw their attention staring to wane, i uncovered the observation hive and it all started again.
To prevent problems, I had it clamped to the table; it has plexiglass, not glass and i insisted on calm and taking turn in small groups to come up to the hive. The kids and teacher were fine, principal a little more worried !!! That is his duty to be, no??!
Yes Keeping it simple is a good advice. Props grab their attenetion and get the whole thing rolling smoothly.

[edward]

Last summer my 4 nieces (3,5,8,9) were passing through on there way to their aunties house so they stopped by one of my bee yards.

I don't have any small bee suits yet so they drove up to a hive in the car , I then opened a hive an took out a frame or two and showed them the bees through the car windows. there were fore  :-D :-D :-D :-D little girls with  :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:  eyes.

I then harvested a frame of honey comb so that they could taste honey warm from the hive ,

They snacked on it on the 500km drive to their aunties house.

Computers , video , games , tv ,.. .. . .. .. . .. . ..

Nothing enriches their lives more than seeing and beeing a part of nature , and experiencing things in real life . :-D

Ironically i am typing this on my computer  :-D

mvh edward  :-P

[Acebird]

Getting parental signatures can be a bear.  Then you have to validate every signature for every kid and it one or two doesn't have the signed waiver then you have to be the bad guy.  I think if I were going to bring live bees to a school it would be a couple frames in a closed nuc so nun could get out.  One or two sides could be screened so you could see them and hear them.

[Scadsobees]

We keep it simple with our kids...drones are daddy bees, and you can catch those.  Mommy bees have stingers.  The queen lays the eggs.  This is a bee hive, not a steamy insect bordello... :-D

Once you show them the waggle dance they won't have any more questions about that... :shock: