Bug Scope MacKenzie Nold

Bee Preconceptions Marquette University students were asked to draw an insect according to what they felt it looked like… This example…the bee…proves that the students were not the best artists; however, they succeeded in grasping the overall concept of how the insects looked.

Now let’s apply some research… With the use of reputable websites, students were able to learn more about the insects they were studying. In this presentation, we will be studying the Bee...

Bees: The Real Facts Bees are a part of the largest order of insects, Hymenoptera. Bees and other close relatives of the bee are pollinators of flowering plants, including fruits and vegetables. Bees are social insects. They live in colonies with a caste system for division of labor. The urban bees and wasps are the members of the Hymenoptera order that sting. Yellow jackets, hornets, and wasps. Although we find them dangerous, they do serve a purpose to us… They pollinate our flowers and feed their young with pesky flies and caterpillars.

So what’s the deal with Honey? Bees do not create honey. The honey we eat is nectar that bees have repeatedly regurgitated and dehydrated. To make one pound of honey, workers in a hive fly 55,000 miles and tap two million flowers In the course of her lifetime, a worker bee will produce 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey.

More Bee Information… Bees live in temperate climates. They must be able to store large amounts of honey and maintain a colony size large enough to survive winter weather. Colonies reproduce through a process called swarming. New Queen Bees are reared in the presence of the current Queen Bee. After this, the Current Queen Bee leaves the hive and allows the new Queen Bees to take over the hive.

Lets try to improve our insect drawing… This is a much better drawing of a bee compared to the original drawing. After researching Bees, more detail can be added to the students’ pictures.

Using Bugscope, what can we see? Here is an image of a Bee’s Antennae from Bugscope online. Using electron microscopy the details are easy to see.

Bees examined in class… Bugscope taught us to take a closer look at the intricate details of each specimen.

National Science Education Standards The Following Standards are met by completing this Bugscope Project with students. Science as Inquiry Standards An appreciation of “how we know what we know” in science This standard is reached by using Bugscope to take an up close look at insects to better understand and appreciate the facts we have learned about them. Life Science Standards Characteristics of Organisms This standard is completely covered through the use of Bugscope and actually examining insects in the classroom which helps us to study the characteristics of these organisms.

Authenticity of Technology By using the Bugscope Online activity and the actual dissecting scopes in class, students were fully able to analyze and explore their insects. This is a completely authentic use of technology because it added to the learning experience of students by providing them with up close views of insects that they would have otherwise never been able to see.

Literature Sources There are several literature sources you can apply to Bugscope for additional research and learning. The following are three examples of books to use with students that relate to Bugscope: Dangerous Insects, by Missy Allen Gardening without poisons, by Beatrice Hunter Bug Book: Harmless Insect Controls, by H. Philbrick

Relating Bugscope to other curricular areas and activities? Bugscope can be used in non-science educational settings as well! Try using Bugscope in these situations: Art Class Have students focus on drawing or creating a 3D insect with as much factual detail as possible Literature lessons While reading books with content regarding insects, take time to explore Bugscope with students to show them the real creatures they are reading about.

Works Cited “About Honey Bees." Texas A&M University Department of Entomology. Winter 2005. Texas A&M University. 10 Oct. 2006 <http://honeybee.tamu.edu/index.html>. Ash, Mike. "Bees and Wasps." Summer 2004. Greensmiths Inc. 10 Oct. 2006 <http://www.greensmiths.com/bees.htm>. "Tales From the Hive." Nova Online. Dec. 1999. WGBH Science Unit. 10 Oct. 2006 <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bees>.