Third-graders learn about pollinators

Published by admin on Tue, 11/20/2018 - 2:40pm

Ann Staudt of ISU Extension has students in Amanda Stoll’s third-grade class at Carpenter School read the definition of “mutualism” during a Water Rocks! presentation Oct. 31. (Photos by Pete Temple)

Students rush to a spot during a game in which they learn the dangers facing monarch butterflies.

Third-grade students, including Jose Becerra, learn about conservation through a Jenga game Oct. 31.
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Staff report

     Third-grade students at Carpenter Elementary School learned about pollination and pollinators during a presentation from Water Rocks! conservation outreach specialists from Iowa State University Extension.

     “Powerful Pollinators” presented by Ann Staudt and Joshua Harms from ISU extension, used sign boards and games to keep the students interested while teaching them about such terms as mutualism, which is an event in nature in which both species benefit.

     Students were taken outside to play “monarch migration madness.” They played the roles of monarch butterflies, running across the Carpenter play area to designated spots and being gradually eliminated because of challenges monarchs face.

     Students also played a Jenga game in which different colored blocks were removed from two Jenga towers, representing pollinators, plants and people, until one of the towers collapsed.

     Staudt and Harms also suggested ways in which the students and their families could help the pollinators, including planting milkweed, limiting pesticide use, mowing less frequently, planting by roadsides, and making bee houses.

 

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