The Cardinal Intermediate School Ecology Club was buzzing with excitement on Thursday, April 23, after a visit from Beekeeper, Christine Kayla, from John’s Country Nursery in Middlefield.
Kayla, who is the former Geauga County Bee Inspector, visited the 3rd and 4th graders to discuss the importance of pollination and the role bees play in it. “The Ecology Club is embarking on a look into the importance of our own environment in sustaining a balanced and thriving ecosystem,” Ecology Club Advisor and 4th grade teacher Charlotte Torre explains. “Pollinators happen to be an integral part of any environment, without those types of pollinating organisms we would not have plants which provide the base for all other consumers in food chains and food webs.”
Kayla spent about an hour with the Club, using classroom volunteers to help explain the hierarchy of beehives and the relationship between the Queen, Worker and Drone bees. Students asked a lot of questions and were fascinated to discover how bee hives are created and maintained. One student even got to dress in a beekeeper suit to help demonstrate the safety precautions beekeepers take when tending to their hives. Kayla also supplied the students with crackers and a sample of honey to taste. She also left them with a coupon for a free pack of seeds at John’s Country Nursery that they can plant and help the bees continue their pollination mission!
Torre says, “We are so appreciative of the time Ms. Kayla took out of her busy schedule to come in, speak to our students and share her expertise. Our club is full of eager students who enjoy learning about new ecological topics and this lesson not only created a lot of buzz about pollination, but the concept is also sticking with the students as they leave the classroom.”
The Cardinal Intermediate School Ecology Club is made up of third and fourth graders from Mr. Topalian and Ms. Torre’s classes. Mr. Topalian and Ms. Torre present a list of potential discussion topics to the club and then allow the 43 students to vote on which topic they’d like to learn more about during their Ecology enrichment period. Along with pollination, students have studied greenhouse gasses, global warming, pollution, whaling, tree identification, endangered species and recycling.
The Cardinal Schools Page is Sponsored by Buckeye Chocolate Company
