The Power of Pollination

Potter County is blessed to be a safe home for many different kinds of flowers, trees, grasses, and pollinators. Pollinators include butterflies, bees, moths, and more, all of which collect pollen and nectar from flowers. The pollinators eat some of the pollen and nectar, but as they fly from flower to flower, some of the pollen reaches new places. When this happens, it ensures the plant can make seeds. The seeds become new plants! We can't have flowers without pollinators, and we can't have pollinators without flowers!

The woods of Potter County offer shelter, places to nest pollinator larvae, and flowers that offer food. Meadows provide some open ground spaces for pollinators to nest their young, and lots of food sources. Gardens and other planted areas of course provide tons of nectar and pollen.

Along with many other organizations, the Potter County Conservation District cares about the health of pollinators and native plants. These organisms are indicators of the health of the environment as a whole. The District's work and projects help ensure our county's natural resources, habitats, and soils remain healthy for years to come!

Take a moment to observe flowers near your home, and record a few notes on what you see. Ask yourself:

• What kinds of bugs are on the flowers?
• Which flowers have the most bugs? Why?
• Do the bugs seem to prefer a certain flower color? Shape? Height?
• How do the bugs eat?
• Where do they fly off to once they're done at one flower?

Pollen provides protein to bees, butterflies, moths, ants, and other bugs you might have noticed on your flowers. Nectar provides them with carbs. They also use these two foods to feed their babies.

But what exactly is pollen and nectar? How do flowers create seeds and new baby plants? One of the best ways to understand how flowers work is to pull one apart. Scientifically, this is known as a dissection!

• Tweezers
• Tray or dish
• Sharp knife
• Dissection Guide
• A very large, simple flower, such as some kind of garden variety lily

• What was, in my opinion, the most interesting flower part that I saw today?
• What flowers do I have around my house? Are there bees, butterflies, and flies there in the daytime? Are there many moths near my house?
• Why do flowers need pollinators and, why do pollinators need flowers?
• How can I help flowers and/or pollinators?

1) Butterfly Collection and tagging - Monarch butterflies in particular are abundant in Potter County in August and September. The later emerging butterflies are those that will begin their 4 month journey to Mexico! These incredible insects were only found to be migratory through the process of butterfly tagging, and citizen scientists still tag them today as a way to track population health. Whether you collect caterpillars to keep them safe as they grow, or later tag and release them, Monarchs are an excellent educational animal in the classroom and at home.

2) Ask students to try pollinating flowers by hand. Provide a handful of varying tools (paint brushes, tweezers, Q-tips, etc) and let them choose which to use. If they have demonstrated through discussion that they understand the process of pollination, they should be able to complete it on their own with these tools. Ask the students to reflect on this experience, and mention that some farmers are forced to hand-pollinate certain crops! This further this home the importance of pollinators, especially in agriculture.

Vocabulary used in this lesson:

Pollinators - a collection of insects that eat pollen and nectar from flowers. In visiting each flower, they subsequently deposit pollen, which fertilizes.

Pollen - provides protein to pollinators, and the male cells that fertilize female parts of a flower, thus creating a fruit and seeds.

Nectar - produced by female parts of the flower, often a sweet scented liquid that attracts pollinators to the flower. Provides carbs to pollinators.

Dissection - taking apart a living thing for the sake of education and/or science.

Stamen - the male parts of a flower, including the anthers and filaments. Pollen is produced from the anthers. Refer to the dissection guide for a visual.

Pistil - the female portions of a flower, including the ovary, style, and stigma. Nectar is held here and attracts pollinators. Nectar also feeds them carbohydrates.

Flower - the reproductive part of a plant. Without them we wouldn't have the trees, flowers, vines, fruit, and vegetables that we all love!

Please use the links at the end of this lesson for free, printable learning resources!

Photos, text, video, and lesson plan courtesy of Emily Shosh and the Potter County Conservation District