WEEK 3: Up, Up and Away
DAY 2: THE AIR UP THERE
Activity 1: Bee Informed [4 points]
One of the most important, but least talked about, animals in New Zealand is the bumblebee. It was first introduced to New Zealand in 1885 to help pollinate a special plant called the ‘Red Clover.’ Today, bumblebees do many other important jobs, including the pollination of greenhouses and orchard crops. If the bees did not pollinate the plants, they would not survive.
For this activity, we would like you to become detectives and learn more about the mysterious, and often ignored, bumblebee. We will provide you with four sentences about bumblebees from the NZ Bumblebee Conservation Trust website and it is your job to fill in the blanks with the missing information.
On your blog type out the four ‘Unbee-livable Facts about Bumblebees’ and fill in the blanks for each one.
Unable-livable Facts about Bumblebees
- The word ‘bumblebee’ is a compound word (bumble + bee). The word ‘bumble’ means to, Hum, Buzz.
- Bumblebees can fly very quickly. They can reach ground speeds of 54km/h kilometres per hour (km/h).
- Bumblebees can do more work and carry more pollen than other bees, including honeybees. In fact, they can do 50 times as much work as a normal honeybee.
- The number of bumblebees is declining in New Zealand due to a number of factors, including Wildflowers and flowering trees from the landscape [insert any two causes of the declining number of bumblebees].
Activity 2: Carbon Sinks Don’t Stink! [4 points]
Every day a chemical compound called carbon dioxide (CO2) is produced and released into the air. If it isn’t removed, it can become toxic for humans. Fortunately, there are a number of places where CO2 is absorbed (removed from the air). Two of the most common places are forests and oceans. They are called ‘carbon sinks’ because, like a sink, they gather, clean and drain things away that we don’t want. One of the largest carbon sinks in New Zealand is a forest in the south-western part of the South Island. It drains away 60% of our unwanted carbon!
Let’s imagine that you could design a sink that could gather up and then drain away any foods that you don’t like. On your blog, tell us what you would put in your special sink. If it was me, I would put rice pudding, Brussel sprouts, custard, parsnips, and seafood chowder in the sink. Yuck! What about you?
On your blog, list all of the foods that you would put in your special draining sink..
- Brussel Sprouts
- Rice Pudding
- Salmon
- Lobster
- Crab
- Cherry Tomato
- Celery
- Hawaiin Pizza
- Spring Onion
- Sprinkles
Hello again,
ReplyDeleteWow, bumblebees are incredible little creatures aren't they? I didn't realise they could fly so fast! It's sad to hear that their numbers are decreasing though. Were you able to find out if anything is being done to save them? You've done a great job filling in the blanks but it looks like you've missed one of the sentences. If you go back and read the activity I think you'll find it's the third bullet point down. Let me know if you need help finding it.
Talk soon,
Mikey :)
Hi Lyan,
DeleteThat's quite a varied list of foods you've written there. Is there one particular ingredient on a Hawaiian pizza that you don't like? Or is it the whole thing? If I could put any food in the special draining sink and get rid of it forever, olives and oysters would be at the top of my list.
Keep up the great blogging Lyan.
Mikey :)