LibGuides: Educator Guide: What's the Buzz About? Gr. K-1: Whats the Buzz About? Educator Guide

What's the Buzz About?

Tips to Come Prepared

Before you visit the Genovesi Environmental Study Center (GESC) with your class, review the Educator's Guide to prepare for your students.

Read the Essential Questions (p. 1) and Connections to Standards (p. 2) to decide how you want to link your curriculum with your field trip
Complete the Pre-Visit Lesson with your class activating student interest and engagement
Come to GESC ready to engage and learn with our experiential, hands-on field trip program, What's the Buzz About?

Library Finds

Why Do We Need Bees? by Emily Bone Why do we need bees? How do they make honey? And who's who in a beehive? Children can find the answers to these questions and many more in this informative lift-the-flap book. With colourful illustrations, simple text and chunky flaps to lift, young children can discover lots of amazing facts about bees and why they need our help.
Are You a Bee? by Judy Allen; Tudor Humphries (Illustrator) Backyard Books: Are You a Bee? by Judy Allen with illustrations by Tudor Humphries shows that--from the perspective of a honeybee--the backyard is a busy place. A young bee faces many challenges as it takes its place in the hive and joins in the work of the bee community.
The Beeman by Laurie Krebs; Valeria Cis (Illustrator) Find out where honey comes from as Grandpa the Beeman teaches the basics of beekeeping to his young grandson. This rhyming story includes 7 pages of endnotes full of essential facts about bees, beekeeping, honey, and the vital part that bees play in the natural world.
Kingfisher Readers L1: Busy As a Bee by Louise P. Carroll Everyone has heard the phrase "busy as a bee," and in this book young readers get to see exactly what those bees are up to. From pollinating flowers and collecting nectar to beecommunication, life in the hive, making honey, and the role of the queen, Kingfisher Readers L1: Busy as a Bee by Louise P. Caroll covers every aspect of bee life in stunning up-close detail. Unfamiliar words like 'hive' are introduced throughout the text with subtle highlighting and the beautiful photography and textwork together seamlessly to draw readers forward for a successful early reading experience. LEVEL 1: BEGINNING TO READ Consists of short simple sentences, high-interest information, easy vocabulary with a high degree of phonic regularity, and lots of repetition. Guided Reading Levels: F, G

Essential Questions

What is a bee?
How and why do people care for honey bees?
What is pollination, and why are pollinators important?
How do humans impact bees?

Our Educator Guide

Explore the What's the Buzz About? Guide! Click the "What's the Buzz About? to access information regarding your trip to GESC, pre- and post- lessons, as well as tips on how to make your field trip successful.

Sora eBooks

Access these free ebooks by signing in to the Sora app with your NYC DOE credentials

Bees in the City by Andrea Cheng; Sarah McMenemy (Illustrator) The solution, he realizes, is in the rooftop gardens and window boxes of his apartment neighbors, representing a varied and continuously blooming array of flowers that the bees will love. Aunt Celine must bring her bees to Paris! But first he and his friends Alice and Samir must convince their skeptical neighbors and landlord, Mr. Dubi, that this is a good idea.   Adorned with Parisian skylines,Bees in the Cityis a love letter to the City of Light and a celebration of the can-do spirit of kids. Sarah McMenemy's illustrations recall the Parisian magic of Madeleine. The book's backmatter explores urban beekeeping and rooftop gardening in greater depth.  Fountas & Pinnell Level P
Honeybee by Candace Fleming; Eric Rohmann (Illustrator) Robert F. Sibert Medal Winner   Take to the sky with Apis, one honeybee, as she embarks on her journey through life! An Orbis Pictus Honor Book Selected for the Texas Bluebonnnet Master List Finalist for the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books A tiny honeybee emerges through the wax cap of her cell. Driven to protect and take care of her hive, she cleans the nursery and feeds the larvae and the queen. But is she strong enough to fly? Not yet! Apis builds wax comb to store honey, and transfers pollen from other bees into the storage. She defends the hive from invaders. And finally, she begins her new life as an adventurer. The confining walls of the hive fall away as Apis takes to the air, finally free, in a brilliant double-gatefold illustration where the clear blue sky is full of promise-- and the wings of dozens of honeybees, heading out in search of nectar to bring back to the hive. Eric Rohmann's exquisitely detailed illustrations bring the great outdoors into your hands in this poetically written tribute to the hardworking honeybee. Award-winning author Candace Fleming describes the life cycle of the honeybee in accessible, beautiful language. Similar in form and concept to the Sibert and Orbis Pictus award book Giant Squid, Honeybee also features a stunning gatefold and an essay on the plight of honeybees. Cook Prize Honor Book An American Library Association Notable Children's Book A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, NPR, Shelf Awareness, School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly and more! A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of the Year A Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year! A Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books Blue Ribbon Book A Booklist Editor's Choice A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
The Honeybee by Kirsten Hall; Isabelle Arsenault (Illustrator) Buzz from flower to flower with a sweet honeybee in this timely, clever, and breathtakingly gorgeous picture book from critically acclaimed author Kirsten Hall and award-winning illustrator Isabelle Arsenault. Bzzz... What's that? Do you hear it? You're near it. It's closer, it's coming, it's buzzing, it's humming... A BEE! With zooming, vibrant verse by Kirsten Hall and buzzy, beautiful illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault, this celebration of the critically important honeybee is a honey-sweet treasure of a picture book.
In the Trees, Honey Bees by Lori Mortensen; Cris Arbo (Illustrator) Here is the ideal introduction for preschoolers and early elementary children to insects that are not only amazing but also critically important to humans. Inside the hive views of a wild colony of honey bees offer close ups of the queen, the cells, even bee eggs. Simple verse will engage a young child, while sidebars with fascinating information satisfy the somewhat older child. Parents, teachers, and kids will love this picture book. The detailed art shimmers with life, highlighting each hair or grain of pollen on the bees. A wild hive in a tree in her own backyard served as a model for the artist! Backmatter includes: further information about wild and domestic hives. information on how to learn more about honey bees.
Flight of the Honey Bee by Raymond Huber; Brian Lovelock (Illustrator) Follow the flight of a honey bee as she searches for nectar to sustain her hive and, along the way, pollinates flowers to produce seeds and fruits. A tiny honey bee emerges from the hive for the first time. Using sunlight, landmarks, and scents to remember the path, she goes in search of pollen and nectar to share with the thousands of other bees in her hive. She uses her powerful sense of smell to locate the flowers that sustain her, avoids birds that might eat her, and returns home to share her finds with her many sisters. Nature lovers and scientists-to-be are invited to explore the fascinating life of a honey bee. Back matter includes information about protecting bees and an index.

What's the Buzz About?

Materials for Pre-Visit Lesson

Honey Bee

Materials for Post-Visit Lesson

"Bee" the Solution

Other eBooks

The Busiest Bugs I Know A book about the life of bees.

Brilliant Bee Facts

Bees are very important pollinators (honey bees pollinate over 75% of our cultivated crops), but they aren’t the only ones helping plants reproduce - beetles, moths, ants, butterflies, flies, wasps, bats, birds, and even small mammals are all pollinators! Wind and water also play a role in the pollination of plants.
Although honey bees sting, there are predators who eat them. Some birds, such as bee eaters, insects like dragonflies, mammals such as bears, skunks, and honey badgers, and even reptiles and amphibians like anoles and wood frogs all include honey bees in their diet!
On average, worker bees only make 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in their lifetime. Next time you have honey, think how many bees it took to make what you eat!
Bees can beat their wings over 200 times per second!
When a queen bee dies, worker bees pick a larva to feed a special diet called royal jelly to. On this diet the worker bee will develop into a queen.

Educator Guide: What's the Buzz About? Gr. K-1: Whats the Buzz About? Educator Guide

What's the Buzz About?

Tips to Come Prepared

Library Finds

Essential Questions

Our Educator Guide

Sora eBooks

What's the Buzz About?

Materials for Pre-Visit Lesson

Materials for Post-Visit Lesson

Other eBooks

Brilliant Bee Facts

Connections to Standards