Petal Attraction
Author: National Gardening Association
 How
is this foxglove advertising it's offering of pollen and nectar?
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The following activity is adapted from the curriculum
guide GrowLab: Activities for Growing Minds. This curriculum
brings plant-based explorations to life through 46 lesson plans
and hundreds
of extension activity ideas that spark students' curiosity about
plants and invite them to think and act like scientists. Developed
by NGA and written and field-tested by educators, this complete
curriculum uses fun, illustrated activities to explore plant life cycles,
examine
plant diversity, and investigate the interdependence of plants,
humans, and other living and non-living things.
Click here for more information or to order this guide.
Overview
Students invent models of flowers and then create advertisements to
illustrate how their invented flowers adapted to attract pollinators.
Standards (Microsoft
Word
document)
Materials:
-
Magazine advertisements
Drawing paper and
supplies
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Miscellaneous classroom and natural materials (e.g.
tissue paper, sticks, pipe cleaners, foil, etc.)
Background
To prepare for this lesson, read the following articles from Kidsgardening.org:
Digging Into Flowers
Flower Courtship.
We also recommend a visit to the USDA
Forest Service Pollinator Web site
Laying the Groundwork
Objective: To understand that many flowers are
adapted to "advertise" themselves to pollinators.
1. Display around your classroom some magazine
advertisements with popular slogans — for example, "Gatorade:
Is it in you?”— and engaging photos. Have students work in pairs
to discuss the following questions:
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At what type of audience/person
do you think each advertisement is aimed?
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What does the advertiser
do to grab the reader's attention and interest (e.g., claims
to make them happier or healthier or uses colorful
pictures)?
-
How do television and Internet advertisements do
similar things?
2. As a class, discuss some of the students'
ideas. Then ask:
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What do you think this discussion has to do with
our study of flowers?
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What do you think flowers and these advertisers
have in common?
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Who are the flower's "audience”?
Reveal that many flowers are really brilliant advertisers, luring
pollinators who inadvertently transfer pollen from one flower to
another. Highlight that many flowers have specific colors, shapes,
mechanism, or smells to attract specific pollinators. Ask: What types
of “advertising” have you observed in flowers?
Exploration
Objective: To consider how every part of a flower is designed to
help in pollination/reproduction.
1. Review flower anatomy and function as
described in Digging Into Flowers (see Background,
above). Copy the
drawing onto an overhead,
whiteboard, or flip-chart paper so you have a visual aid for your
discussion of flower anatomy.
2. Have students work in small groups to “invent” models of fictitious
flowers. Give each group an assignment, which should be for their
eyes only. Suggest that students in each group take on specific roles,
such as materials gatherers, reporters, and labelers.
All models must:
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consist of unique, labeled petals, pollen, pistils,
and stamens
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be made of recycled classroom or natural materials
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be a minimum of 8 to 12 inches in diameter
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function
as specified in one of the descriptions below:
Suggested “wild” flower ideas:
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Invent a flower that might entice
an unsuspecting human to pollinate it.
-
Invent a flower that
can pollinate itself with the help of gravity.
-
Invent a flower
that could easily be pollinated by the wind.
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Invent a flower
that will make a pollinator think it's approaching a fellow insect.
-
Invent a flower that would force bees to follow
a particular route in and out, touching the anthers and stigma
on
its way.
-
Invent a flower that would attract a pollinator
with a long beak.
-
Invent a flower with an anther that can easily
be "tripped" and
sprung by an insect, releasing pollen.
Extra challenge: Create models of specific pollinators that might
be adapted to pollinating your particular flower.
3. Have groups decide
how to present their inventions to the class. They might choose
a spokesperson or make a creative group presentation.
Encourage the class to guess the purpose of the different structures
of each invented flower.
Making Connections
Possible discussion questions:
-
What do you think would happen if…
… bees and other insects couldn't detect color?
… motor oil were splashed on a flower's stigma?
… pesticides, toxic to bees, were sprayed on plants?
-
Although
flowers have particular adaptations to attract pollinators,
how do people take advantage
of these traits, (e.g., they use
flowers’ fragrance for soaps)?
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Do you think bees or plants
benefit more during pollination? (This is a good question
for debate, with no right answer!)
-
Which parts would
you not expect to find on flowers pollinated by the
wind? Why?
-
Why do you think flowers produce thousands
of pollen grains, even if they have only a few eggs to
be
fertilized
Branching Out
Research
different types of pollinators (bats, moths, carrion, flies, etc.)
to find out their flower preferences.
Try removing different parts
of flowers while they're still on the
plant. Notice how this affects the plant's development.
Write and
illustrate a description of a flower-of-the-future. Describe how
this flower would be adapted to specific conditions and means of
pollination.
Write an editorial
for (the fictional) National Pollinating magazine from the perspective
of a pollinator concerned
about pesticide use. First research how pesticides
can affect
pollinators.
On an outdoor walk, try
to identify different aspects of flowers' advertisements. Identify
those flowers that are probably wind-pollinated.
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© 2009
National Gardening Association