Description: The students will work with nature using their senses whilst investigating what pollinators and pest controllers can be found in their local area.
Intention: The students will investigate what pollinators and pest controllers can be found in their local area and how these can contribute to their own garden.
Before:
Decide beforehand to which natural space you will go. Make sure there are some pollinators and pest controllers to be found.
1
Introduce the lesson and objectives
- Explain that students will explore the local environment to find pollinators and pest controllers.
- Clarify that the goal is to understand how these species help gardens thrive.
- Introduce the activities Team Pollinator and Team Pest Controllers, explaining that these are hands-on ways to observe and learn about these organisms.
2
Pre-activity preparation
- Review common local pollinators (bees, butterflies, hoverflies) and pest controllers (ladybugs, spiders, frogs, birds).
- Discuss their roles in gardens: pollinators help fruits and vegetables grow; pest controllers manage harmful insects.
- Provide simple ID guides, pictures, or laminated cards for students.
- Explain safety and ethical observation: no harming insects or plants, maintain distance, wash hands after handling.
3
Organize observation groups
- Divide students into small teams for the activities.
- Assign each team a method:
- Team Pollinator: Observing pollinators visiting flowers or tea-bait stations (sugar-water-soaked cotton in a safe dish, under teacher supervision).
Team Pest Controllers: Observing or attracting natural predators using small traps or “mini-habitats” (like a tray with soil and leaves to attract insects).
4
Field investigation
- Take students to the school garden or nearby green space.
- Each team records:
- The type of pollinator or pest controller seen
- What plants or areas they visit
- Quantity and behavior (e.g., flying, feeding, hunting)
- Encourage sketches or photos in observation notebooks.
5
Data compilation and analysis
- Back in the classroom, have teams combine their observations into one table or chart.
- Discuss patterns: Which pollinators are most common? Which pest controllers are easiest to attract?
- Connect findings to gardening: How can these species support their own garden’s health and productivity?
Didactic tips
- While laying the flashcards on the ground, students can differentiate between pollinators and pest controllers before their investigation.
- Be a bee (process of pollination) – Bees must visit, touch the flag (from other students) and carry ‘pollen’ (yellow chalk dust on hands) to next flower.
- An after activity would be to incorporate the new findings into planning the garden.
- After activity – Setting up a student weekly monitor system in which each group will have specific tasks