Thank You 'Change is Simple'!

On January 8, Green Topsfield brought the 'Change is Simple Program' to the second graders in our class.  
Mission Statement of the Change is Simple Program: The Change is Simple mission is to instill environmental and social responsibility in our communities through environmental and sustainability education. By educating individuals on the cumulative impacts of their choices, we seek to inspire and empower others to protect our future.
Why are bees important to our environment?

Change is Simple came to teach our second grade class about bees and their important job as pollinators in our environment.  We learned all kinds of interesting facts!  For example there are 20,000 different types of bees!  Our lesson focused on the five bees most common to our area such as the Honey bee, Carpenter bee, Bumble bee, Squash bee, and Sweat bee.  

With the use of an IPAD and a special magnifying glass, we were able to see specimens of bees up close.

Wow....the bee has little hairs on its body!

We learned how different types of bees pollinate different plants.  We even learned how using pesticides can harm bees. After ingesting pesticides, the pesticides make the bees dizzy, which makes it really hard for them to pollinate plants.  As an example, our new friends brought in special goggles which simulate a bees vision after ingesting pesticides.  Using pesticides make it difficult for a bee to do their job!

It's hard to see!

Our new friends teach us about the five common bees in our area!

Searching for the plants they pollinate (Trevor as a bumble bee and Sasa as a squash bee)

Getting ready!

We also had the chance to sort foods a bee does and does not pollinate.  We were surprised how some foods we didn’t think would be pollinated by bees are, and vice versa!  Bees have a very important job in our environment.

At the close of the program, our new friends had us share in our strongest voices....

Change is Simple!

Thank you Green Topsfield for bringing this program to the second graders at Steward School.