In Weeks 1 and 2 of this term, all four Year 4 classes took part in a hands-on project exploring native bees and pollination, supported by a successful grant from the Queensland Government’s Growing Global Competence fund.
As part of their Enviro Days program, students heard from native beekeepers Ian Driver (A Green Soul) and Peter Velensky (Pete's Native Bees Cooroy), who shared their expertise on solitary and stingless bees. Students helped install a new native beehive and a ‘bee village’ with multiple nesting options, and created a pollinator garden full of flowering native plants and other bee-attracting species.
The project also included:
- A guided garden walk to spot pollinator activity
- Making personal bee hotels to take home
- Creating clay nesting blocks for blue-banded bees
- Cooking from the garden
- Designing ways to teach others about native bees
The project also funded four new iPads for the Enviro Centre, which students will use to monitor bee activity and contribute real data to the iNaturalist website as citizen scientists.
Student engagement was high, with many students nominating to be school bee-champions, supporting other children to learn about native pollinators. The project will continue throughout the year.
