Senior Secondary School Activities
Curriculum Links
Science Curriculum Level 6: Living World
- Recognise the impact of natural events and human actions on a New Zealand ecosystem.
Students are working at level 6 of the Curriculum when they can link pesticide use to reduced pollinator numbers and describe how this affects an ecosystem or orchard, OR they can link the spread of the Varroa bee mite to reduced pollination and describe potential effects this will have on an ecosystem (eg. rare plants or reduced fruit set in orchards).
The World-wide Pollinator Decline
The European Pollinator Initiative.org lists some of the issues surrounding pollination. These can be used to start discussion. The article The Vanishing Bee is a useful case study that can be discussed in groups. From the discussions, students could create an action plan that they would like to see implemented for bee conservation. Although the article is from the USA, the same principles apply in New Zealand, and their action plans should address New Zealand's needs. Action plans can be turned into posters and presented to the rest of the class.