Natural Science Lessons for KS1We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This costs the purchaser nothing extra. In this way I can continue to provide free resources. Thank you for your support. |
Butterflies are amazing creatures!
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A group of bees is called a swarm and the Queen Bee leads the swarm. She is especially large and is cared for by all the other bees.
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Early in the summer, a Queen Bee sets out, followed by a large number of other bees. When she stops, they all make a heap around her, clinging to each other. The beekeeper gathers the swarm into a hive and then the work begins!
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The Workers are the smallest bees in the hive. They are the busiest. They fly from flower to flower gathering nectar and pollen.
They suck up nectar and the pollen sticks to the hairs on their bodies.
They use their legs to scrape the pollen off and push it into grooves on the side of their back legs.
Once they are full, they fly back to the hive.
They suck up nectar and the pollen sticks to the hairs on their bodies.
They use their legs to scrape the pollen off and push it into grooves on the side of their back legs.
Once they are full, they fly back to the hive.
1. First of all the Workers help to prepare cradles for the baby bees. We call the cradles ‘combs’.
The Workers hang upside down for a day and a night and amazingly the nectar they have eaten before travelling is turned into wax. They gather the wax, moisten it and roll it until it is soft and then stick it to the roof in little balls. Then other bees hollow the balls into little six-sided caves, or cells. |
2. Off go the Workers to collect nectar and pollen.
When they come back, the younger workers take the pollen from them and make it into bee bread.
Then they fill the cells with the honey they have brought from the flowers.
When they come back, the younger workers take the pollen from them and make it into bee bread.
Then they fill the cells with the honey they have brought from the flowers.
3. The Queen lays her eggs - one in each little cell. After four days the egg hatches into a little grub which feeds on the honey it finds in the cell. It feeds and grows, feeds and grows. The younger Worker bees and Nurses fondly feed them for five or six days and then the top of each cell is covered with wax.
4. Inside each cell, the grubs spins themselves a robe of silk, called a cocoon.
Inside the cocoon, an amazing change takes place.
The grubs change into young bees who eat their way out of the cells and join the workforce in the hive!
Inside the cocoon, an amazing change takes place.
The grubs change into young bees who eat their way out of the cells and join the workforce in the hive!
The Queen lays thousands of eggs all through the summer.
Most of them turn into Workers, some to Drones and a few are Princesses who are specially fed to grow into Queens.
As well as Builders and Nurses there are Engineers who keep the hive cool by fanning it with their wings so that the wax doesn’t melt and bend in the hot sun.
Other bees are Watchmen who guard the door to the hive and kill any enemies that try to get in.
Next time you see a honey bee, think of all the work they do and how organsied they are!
Thought for parents/teachers: Nature is not random, but rather shows signs of careful design.
Most of them turn into Workers, some to Drones and a few are Princesses who are specially fed to grow into Queens.
As well as Builders and Nurses there are Engineers who keep the hive cool by fanning it with their wings so that the wax doesn’t melt and bend in the hot sun.
Other bees are Watchmen who guard the door to the hive and kill any enemies that try to get in.
Next time you see a honey bee, think of all the work they do and how organsied they are!
Thought for parents/teachers: Nature is not random, but rather shows signs of careful design.
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Hello, I am Lilibette (B.Ed Hons Early Years, Studies in the Environment Specialism Course), here to encourage the next generation to love the natural world, and thereby learn the necessary skills and knowledge to look after it in the years ahead. Read more...
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