Let’s Do MATH with Native Bees!
Have you ever thought about incorporating math into your nature journals?
At the beginning of every nature journal, I paste a measuring tape. This encourages the children to think about the size of what they are drawing. If they find a leaf or flower, even a bee, they can compare it to the tape in the cover and measure what they have found.
If what they are drawing is smaller than what it is, for example a tree, we talk about how much smaller their drawing is to the actual tree.
If what they are drawing is larger than the actual drawing, we talk about estimating how much larger.
Here my bee is 18X larger than the actual bee. You can teach your children how to write, next to their drawing, the magnification.
Describing the position of the bee can also be a great way to do some ‘math talk.’ The bee is ON the flower. The bee is BESIDE the water. The bee is INSIDE the insect house. When you have talked about position, encourage the children to include this information in their journals.
Another way to incorporate math is to research statistics applicable to the nature journal entry.
Here are some places where you can find information on Australia’s native bees.
aussiebee.com – lots of information and photos.
CSIRO web site – great information and links to where you can purchase a Field Guide.
Info-graphics make a visual impact, and they can help the children come up with their own Australian Native Bee Info-graphic poster. Here is a link to a Bee vs Wasp Info-graphic and here is one for Bee Keeping and Honey Production. You can look at them for inspiration.
What about including a graph in your journal? Using the statistics from your research, or by keeping your own log of the bees that you encounter, you can create graphs. Use the back of your journal to fill in your findings.
There is a great free journal insert HERE, created by John Muir Laws. It has lots of math related information to help you keep records in your nature journal.
Would you like a free preschool Bee math worksheet?
Have you seen our Naïve Bee Identification Cards? You can get them HERE.
The Backyard Guide, Volume 5, has a lesson on native bees and you can use any work you do to earn the Nature Club insect badges.
We would love to see your Native Bee journal entries! Email your photo to Nature Study Australia or share via Instagram /Facebook.
