Sara Van Dyck

Bumblebees are fuzzy insects that can grow up to an inch long. They have a stinger to protect themselves from their enemies. Bumblebees live where flowers grow, and collect nectar, which is their food. They store the nectar in their honey stomachs. While looking for nectar, they also pick up pollen from flowers, which sticks to a bumblebee’s hairs whenever it lands on a flower. The pollen then sticks to the next flower that the bee visits pollinates that flower. Bumblebees live in colonies which are made up of a queen, some male bumblebees, and workers. The queen is responsible for forming the colony by laying eggs in a nest. These eggs hatch into larvae, which become pupas, a type of cocoon for bees. Then newly grown adult bees break out of the cocoons. The queen continues to lay eggs all summer long, with worker bees collecting pollen and nectar, which they bring back to the nest. Late in the summer, the young queens and males hatch and fly off together instead of staying in the nest. These new queens are responsible for forming new colonies when the old queen and workers die in the fall. For many years, people have found that they could use bees to help grow important plants.

I would use this book in a 1st-3rd grade science classroom to teach students about how the role bumblebees have in pollinating plants. This book could also be used to teach about a bumblebee's life cycle.… (mer)

The Boy Who Loved Ants: Edward O. Wilson is a brilliant little book. It will inspire any thoughtful elementary school child into caring for the small creatures of nature. Using simple, clear language appropriate to the age group, and interesting pictures, it carries several important ecological lessons, teaching without preaching.
Another message is resilience. Professor Wilson lost most of the sight of one eye as a boy. Even before that, he was smaller than others, shy and withdrawn. And yet, he became one of the leading biologists of the planet, honored by governments, and although it’s not stated in this book, befriended by other famous environmentalists like David Suzuki.
It is not necessary for all children to collect black widow spiders and snakes. It is necessary for as many as possible to look on nature as something that makes life possible for all of us, as a thing of beauty that deserves protection from the ravages of humankind in its own right. A particular species, a particular place may or may not be "useful." That is irrelevant. It is fascinating, and beautiful in its own way, and what is useful is the complex totality.
This is the gentle message of this book. Buy it for your child.… (mer)