ACTIVITY

Make a Bee Hotel – Part 2

Students work in groups to research, design, build, and install a bee hotel, then observe insect activity around it.

These bricks aim to raise awareness of the importance of pollinators, develop ecological thinking, and foster hands-on collaboration through sustainable design.

This brick is a continuation of Make a Bee Hotel – Part 1. Make sure you have done part 1 beforehand.

Before:

Make sure that all the materials and tools that the students need to construct the bee hotel, are present. Prepare this in advance together with the students, by looking critically at the sketches and writing down what exactly will be needed. Ask questions and think ahead; ‘What if..’ ‘Should we then also need..’.

 

1

Looking back at the previous brick. Are all sketches finalised? Are there any questions or new ideas?

2

When the students have a clear design, they can start constructing. Make sure that all students know how to use the building tools, and supervise  the students while they work with them.

3

When the Bee Hotel is finished, it can be installed. Place the bee hotel in a sunny and dry location, facing south or southeast, and about 1 meter above the ground.

4

After installing the Bee Hotel, students can observe and reflect by monitoring which insects visit or nest in their Bee Hotel. Bee Hotels can be improved according to the observations.

Methods that can be used are the User Testing (each group focussing on their own Bee Hotel) or Similarities and Differences (focussing on all Bee Hotels).

Didactic tips:

  • Prioritise safety. Demonstrate how to use tools correctly and supervise students throughout construction.
  • Encourage teamwork. Have students regularly check their work against the original sketch and discuss any design changes.
  • Support observation. Ask questions such as: “Which insects visited the hotel?”, “Why do you think they chose certain nesting holes?”, and “What would you improve next time?”
  • Connect to biodiversity. Discuss how bee hotels support solitary bees and other pollinators, and what else is needed to create a pollinator-friendly habitat.
GreenComp: 1.3 Promoting nature, 4.2 Collective action, 2.1 Systems thinking
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CreateAct
THEME:
Nature & biodiversity
TIME:
AGE: 10-12 years, 13-15 years

SUBJECTS:

  • Nature sciences
  • Mathematics
  • Other

TOOLS / MATERIALS:

E.g.

  • Wooden boards or boxes (untreated wood, without varnish)
  • Bamboo sticks, hollow reeds, or dried elder branches
  • Pieces of brick with holes
  • Pine cones, twigs, hay
  • Nails, screws, hammers, saw
  • Wire or mesh (to protect the entrance from birds)

METHODS:

RESOURCES: