What’s Buzzin’? Pollinators at the MPG Ranch

Join us for a live, virtual day in the field with pollinator researchers on May 22, 2024!

This is geared toward elementary and middle school students. We will facilitate age band breakout rooms with the researchers!

Join in the conversation with pollinator researchers and botanists as they walk through their longitudinal research study protocols in this 45-minute, interactive program. This program is a partnership between the MPG Ranch and the Missoula County Department of Ecology and Extension. Students will:

1. What’s a pollinator?

2. Why do we study pollinators?

3. How do we study pollinators?

4. Have wonders and ask researchers questions in grade groupings.

Wednesday, May 22, 2023

9:00 am, 10:00 am, 1:00 pm, and 2:00 pm MOUNTAIN TIME

See below for pollinator curriculum and activities!

Pollinator S.C.A.M.P.E.R.

STANDARDS-BASED Pollinator Learning Experiences FOR GRADES K-12 SPONSORED BY THE MPG RANCH.

 K-12 LEARNING EXPERIENCES

 Inspired Classroom is dedicated to supporting teachers, caregivers, and parents with scenario-driven distance learning experience FREE OF CHARGE thanks to the sponsorship of our amazing partner mentor organizations. Watch this short video to see how an IC Challenge on the MentorIC platform delivers deep learning to your students.

All of our learning experiences are supported by educators. Do you need help getting started or have a question?

BEAUTIFUL BEES-A POLLINATOR PROJECT FOR ELEMENTARY STUDENTS

The researchers at MPG Ranch in Montana have been studying the impact of pollinators, especially wild bees, on the ecosystem. This project brings their work to elementary students in an understandable and fun format. Get kids excited about observing natural phenomena and investigating the relationship between native pollinators and native plants.

All materials for both the teacher and students are provided to research, make observations, take notes and then write a creative but accurate two-voice poem about the similarities and differences of bees and plants. This project meets both science and literacy standards.

Another benefit of getting students engaged in this project is the extension possibility of going outside this spring, taking nature notes, and comparing the critters and plants at MPG Ranch and those in your own neighborhood. SO FUN!

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MPG Ranch POLLINATORS IN SPACE research project!

Want to send Middle School students to MARS? Engage them in this fun, fast-paced real-world project using research from MPG Ranch. Students and their families are colonizing Mars BUT the scientist’s ship has been delayed so the students are tasked with programming the Great Grasslands Ecosystem (GGE) greenhouse to make sure the cryopreserved bees and plants will successfully thrive and survive. Students learn about life cycles, interdependency, and pollinator habitat as they put together a strategic plan and timeline for the GGE. Urgent messages from Mission Control, the student library, and all the teaching resources will assist classrooms as they struggle with the real-world problem of habitat restoration in the most inhospitable environment.

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MPG Ranch Pollinators and Food Security Research Project

There is a global decline in the population of bees and other pollinators. What does this mean for our world? What does this mean for our local ecosystems that depend on local pollinators to produce local plant life that in turn feeds local animals and insects? The research being done at MPG Ranch is a great example of learning more about the fragile pollinator ecosystem.

Students design a sustainable, ecosystem-friendly solution using pollinators to address food insecurity for their community. Discover how pollinators impact food security and the ecosystem and the research on these critically diverse pollinators that takes place at MPG Ranch. Begin your journey using empathy and a user-centered design approach to create a prototype plan to combat food insecurity for the community.

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