• Overview
  • Big Idea
  • Building Project Prototype
  • Coding Project
  • Reflection

Welcome to the “Monitoring Bees and Pollination with a Bug Counter” lesson. This curriculum is tailored for 4th-grade students and aligns with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

The lesson is designed to be completed within 40 to 60 minutes.

For additional support and frequently asked questions, please refer to our Knowledge Base.

United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

Throughout this unit, we will focus on three of the seventeen UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our objective is to introduce these SDGs and inspire students to contemplate how the lesson’s theme and project align with these specific goals. For a deeper understanding of the Sustainable Development Goals, please visit the official UN SDG website.

In this lesson, students will learn about pollination and its role in the transfer of energy within an ecosystem.

This unit will introduce students to the concept of pollination, parts of a plant, the role of bees in ecosystems, and how climate change is impacting pollination processes.

Students will also get a chance to explore smart components and their functions. Using LED lights, the touch sensor, and the breadboard, students will explore the foundational concept of the project that will be built in the next unit of this lesson.

As the lesson progresses through additional units, students will gain a deeper understanding of the roles of bees in ecosystems, their importance in food production, and how these processes are being affected by climate change. The estimated completion time for this lesson is 40-60 minutes.

For additional information and assistance, please consult our Knowledge Base.

In this section, students will be using the touch sensor, LED lights and breakout board to explore smart components. This section serves as an introduction to the smart comments within the climate action kit.

For more in-depth information on the Smart components within the kit click here.

In this lesson, students will engage in a hands-on project where they will create and program a prototype utilizing a micro:bit in conjunction with the Climate Action Kit. The journey begins with navigating to the MakeCode website, where detailed instructions for assembling the prototype await. Upon completion of the build, students will not exit the page; instead, they will find an embedded tutorial within the MakeCode interface that will guide them through the coding process.

Importantly, students don’t need to create an account to participate. However, for those interested in saving their work and exploring further, MakeCode offers a hassle-free sign-up option with a single click using Google, Apple, or Microsoft accounts.

Key Concepts: Inputs, Algorithms, Debugging, Conditional Statements, Sequential Events.

Description: If statement for when ‘Touch’ is pressed, sets LEDs to a colour, pause, then black. A starter code is provided and the objective is for them to change the LED colour, and/or add additional LED commands to the sequence.

Add your content here…