1. Pollination: the birds and the bees Online lesson 2 http://www.awesomeclipartforeducators.com/keyword.cfm?type=Clipart&cid=1165 &cat=Spring&sec=Seasons&kw=Birds http://www.awesomeclipartforeducators.com/keyword.cfm?type=Clipart&cid=1163&cat=Spring&sec =Seasons&kw=Bee

2. Recap Last lesson you learned- The different parts of flowers and what they do. That the male part of a flower is called the Stamen and the female part is called the Carpel. The Stamen is where the pollen is made and held. The Carpel is where the ovary is. What a perfect and imperfect flower is. What a complete and incomplete flower is. You guys learned a lot. Be proud!

3. Pollination and Pollinators Pollination occurs when the pollen (from the male) finds the ovary (in the female). Once they find each other, fertilization occurs. There are lots of things involved in pollination. For instance, the pollen can’t just get from the anther to the stigma on it’s own. It needs something to carry it or assist it to the stigma. These assistants are called pollinators. Examples of pollinators- can you think of any? Insects- bees, ants, butterflies (anything really) The wind Animals- people, birds, possums, dogs, cats, anything that comes into contact with flowers.

4. Pollination in a flower So, as you can see, the pollen (orange dot) goes from the anther, to the stigma, down through the style, and into the ovary where the ovules (green dots) are.

5. Ovules and Seeds The ovules are the eggs, just the same as in a human (ova). Once these have been fertilized, they form a seed. Often in flowering plants, the ovary the forms into a fruit casing around the seed. This fruit casing gives protection to the seed inside, but it also attracts potential carriers for the seeds (in their stomachs, and then in their poo!). We will go into more detail about this in the next lesson.

6. Love at first sniff Flowering plants have special ways to attract potential pollinators: Petal shape and pattern- some petals have a pattern on them that only insects can see, and some flowers are shaped so that they look like a potential mate….oooh. Some flowers even have a bulls eye right in the middle! Scent- some flowers give off what we call pheromones. They pretend to be a female looking for a mate, and attract males to the flower. Nectar- Some flowers make nectar (liquid sugary substance) to invite animals, such as birds, and even insects, like bees, so that they have a delicious treat to munch on, while inadvertently pollinating at the same time.

7. Bees- The Buzzinators Bees are probably the best known pollinators in the world. Even if you didn’t know the name for what they do, I’m sure you already knew that they carry pollen from flower to flower. For bees it’s a win-win situation. They want nectar/pollen to take back to their hives and make. The more flowers they visit, the more nectar/pollen they collect. A single bee can visit anywhere between 500-1000 flowers a day. And the more flowers they visit means the more the pollen is getting spread around. Which means more fertilization can occur, more seeds are made, and more flowers are available as a result. And, more flowers for the bees to visit and get food.

8. Bees- A Closer Look Bees are actually perfect for doing the job they do. They have special parts of their body that help the pollen to stick to them. Some adaptations they have are: A fuzzy body, which can carry an electrostatic charge, which helps the pollen stick (like flint to your fuzzy Polar Fleece jumpers).For an excellent look at this, follow this linkthis link A ‘basket” of hairs on the outside of their hind legs, which collects pollen. Long tongues for scraping the pollen out of the flower, and off their bodies. Follow this link, and look for these adaptations on the bee.link

9. Final Activity You’ve just learned quite a lot about pollination, pollinators and bees. Lets think about what might have an affect on both pollinators and plant species. For a final thought on this topic, I would like you to go to this web page and play the game “Where have all the boy plants gone?”.Where have all the boy plants gone?”. Remember to read all instructions carefully. You need to answer all questions correctly before you move on to the next part. There is a worksheet that follows on from this. You must email this to me by 5pm tonight.

10. References All graphics used in this presentation are from Microsoft Clipart, except for the 2 on the title page, which are from http://www.awesomeclipartforeducators.com http://www.awesomeclipartforeducators.com http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b- online/ibc99/koning/pollenadapt.htmlhttp://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b- online/ibc99/koning/pollenadapt.html http://dromus.nhm.uga.edu/kidsclub/htmldocs/pollination/boy_flo wers_game/index.htmlhttp://dromus.nhm.uga.edu/kidsclub/htmldocs/pollination/boy_flo wers_game/index.html http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Bees/Images/bee_pollen _macro.jpghttp://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Bees/Images/bee_pollen _macro.jpg http://pages.prodigy.net/dscribner/bees/fbeespg1.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bee