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Counting pollinators

Pollination is all around us, let's look closely

 

Cartoon drawing of a kid looking for bugs1. What is a Pollinator?

A pollinator is an insect or an animal that moves pollen from one plant to another. They usually do this accidently while trying to get some yummy nectar to drink. Many plants, including some that grow  our food, would be unable to reproduce (grow seeds) if they did not have pollinators.

 

Cartoon drawing of a kid drawing



2. Counting Pollinators

Saffron gets a little thirsty. While she was looking for nectar to drink, she noticed some flowers had lots of pollinators on them, while others did not. She wonders if insects like some flowers better than others, and decides to do a pollinator count to find out. 

 

Pollination at the Botanical Gardens


At our Botanic Gardens, pollinators are extremely important, especially at the Australian Botanic Garden, Mount Annan, as it is a very important safe place for native wildlife. It is extremely important that we look after the woodlands, grasslands and open spaces to maintain habitats for lots of different animals. These animals need to plants that grow there because they provide food and shelter. In order to make sure that these plants stay nice and healthy and they reproduce to make flowers, fruit or more plants, the scientists monitor the pollination processes of many of the important plants to make sure they are getting the pollination they need.


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Activity - Pollinator Flashcards


Conduct an experiment to see how many pollinators live in your school or home and see if we can identify the different types. Download and printout the Experiment Activity Worksheet to complete this fun experiment!

Activity - Pollinator Flashcards


Use these flashcards to help you ID the pollinators and learn what makes them all different

https://www.bookwidgets.com/play/MYKKMB?teacher_id=5000587425873920

Activity - Pollinator Matching Game


Once you have completed the experiment, see how many pollinator types you can remember in this Pollinator Match Game

https://www.bookwidgets.com/play/YYFDYX?teacher_id=5000587425873920

Activity - Pollinator Crossword


Now for an extra challenge, see if you can complete this Pollinator Crossword (Hint: the clues are based on the flashcards)

https://www.bookwidgets.com/play/6YJ76N?teacher_id=5000587425873920

Safety information

 
  • Please use caution when handling insects as some might have stingers or might cause an allergic reaction. 
  • Collect insects with adult supervision. 
  • Do no do this experiment without parental supervision

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