1B. Pollination Summary
Background
Background
You’ve probably heard the term “pollinator” before but what is a pollinator and what do they do?
Pollinators work their magic as they travel from flower to flower, drinking nectar and gathering pollen that they, or their young will eat. They are attracted to nectar and pollen-rich plants because of the bright colours and the sweet scents of the flowers.
The yellow powdery pollen from these flowers sticks to their bodies. When pollen is moved from one plant to another of the same kind, the pollen fertilizes the egg in the flower. This produces seeds that can turn into baby plants!
There are a few plants that do not need to be pollinated at all. Others can produce fertile seeds without pollination, but most plants do need to be pollinated to survive. Some plants are pollinated by the wind or water, but most plants are pollinated by animals called pollinators.
Bees are the most efficient pollinators. Other pollinators in Canada include certain kinds of butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, and hummingbirds. In other parts of the world, mammals like bats are also pollinators. Pollinators are tiny creatures with a very important job to do!
Task
Imagine that you have to explain pollination to a friend who doesn’t know anything about this amazing process. Design a comic strip, using images and a few key words that will explain pollination to your friend, step by step. Choose a pollinator to feature and a plant with flowers that they would pollinate.
If you can, try to label the parts of the pollinator and flower that make pollination possible. For example, if you choose a bee, you may want to point out its hairy legs. For the flower, you could point out structures like the anthers (structures with pollen) and the style (tube that leads to the flower’s seeds).
Be as creative as you like, you can draw, paint, use a computer program, cut out images, use sidewalk chalk – anything goes. Just check with your teacher first.
Use the resources and related media linked to this activity to help you get started. Feel free to do your own research too.
Upload an image of your comic strip in the gallery section in the folder called “Pollination Explanation Comic Strips”.
Learning Objectives
- Understand what pollinators are
- Understand the pollination process
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