PAY IT FORWARD

The Baturyn Bee Helpers

Why We Started This Project Our Grade 2 class at Baturyn School wanted to learn more about bees and how they live. We know that bees are very important because they help grow the food we eat, like fruits and vegetables. We wanted to find out how we could help the bees in our own backyards and "Pay it Forward" to nature. Our project was all about learning how humans can sometimes hurt bees and, more importantly, how we can all work together to help them stay safe and healthy.

What We Did

1. Learning with a Slideshow We started by looking at a fun slideshow. We learned about how bees live in hives, how they find food, and how they work as a team. We also learned about solitary bees. We spent a long time talking about how humans can hurt bees by using chemicals in gardens or by taking away the wild places where they like to build their nests. We were surprised to learn that bees are responsible for one out of every three bites of food we take! But we felt very happy to learn that we can help them by planting native flowers and making safe homes for them to rest in.

2. The Pollination Game To see how bees actually work, we played a "Pollination Game." We pretended to be busy bees flying from flower to flower. We saw how yellow pollen sticks to a bee’s fuzzy body and moves to the next flower. This helps the plants make seeds and grow new fruit for us to eat.

3. Making Bee Houses The most exciting part was making our own bee houses! We used old soup and vegetable cans to make them. First, we painted the cans with bright, happy colors to make them look beautiful for the bees.Then, we filled the cans with small tubes and paper straws. These tubes make the perfect "bedrooms" for solitary bees to lay their eggs and stay safe from the rain. We liked using recycled cans because it means we are reusing things instead of throwing them away. It’s another way we are helping the Earth!

4. Letters to Our Parents After our houses were finished, we became real "bee experts." We wrote letters to our parents to explain why these houses are so important for our environment. In our letters, we gave them advice on the very best place to put the bee house. We told them it should be in a sunny spot that is off the ground and safe from the wind. This way, the bees will stay warm and dry all year. We hope our parents will be as excited as we are to welcome these new friends into our gardens.

What We Learned This project taught us that even though we are young, we can make a big difference for the planet. We learned that bees are our friends and that we need to protect them. By taking our bee houses home and teaching our families how to care for them, we are helping the bees in our community grow and thrive. We hope that our project makes the Baturyn community a better place for all the little pollinators!