What s the Buzz? Objective: Students will gain an understanding of the systems of the life of a bee and its living habitat, through the construction of a honeycomb and a collaborative installation. Measurement of hexagons will assist in the design and construction. Materials: Rulers Glue Scissors Paper towel rolls (only cardboard part) Tag Board or Black Construction Paper cut into 3 x3 pieces Tempera paints- different colors Paper plates or foam trays Small objects to stamp Paper clips Bubble Wrap Cotton Swabs Brushes Water/ water containers Procedures: Step 1: Introduce honey bees, cycles of the bees, the honeycomb habitat, and pollination through videos and interactive Smart board games. Step 2: Review polygons, particularly the hexagon. The hexagon shape that is seen in honeycomb cells forms a strong and repetitive pattern. It's the most efficient shape because it requires the least amount of building material (beeswax) because each shares a side or wall leaving no space between.
Step 3: Introduce materials and overview of the project. Students will create individual hexagons which will then be placed together to create a honeycomb installation. Step 4: Make marks to divide the paper towel rolls in thirds and using a pencil and ruler, draw two straight lines down the length of the roll. Then make marks at different distances down the rolls, drawing lines across the width of the rolls. Step 5: Cut the rolls on these lines. Every student should have at least 8 flattened shapes. Fold each strip on the lines. Fold one forward and other backward, so the strips look like a Z. Check that each of the student s folds is well creased. Open them to discover a hexagon. Step 6: Give students 3 pieces of white tag board and 3 pieces of black construction paper. Place tempera paints on a plate or tray. Give the students brushes, stamps and cotton swabs. They will then paint stamp or dab repetitive patterns on each of their 3 x 3 papers. Step 7: Pour some glue on a plate or palette and spread out. Once the paintings are dry, students will dip one side of the hexagon in the glue and then will place on one of the papers. They will repeat this process until all the hexagons have a paper glued on the back. Let dry. Step 8: Once dry, students will cut away any extra paper. Step 9: Students will measure each hexagon. This will help them organize the figures before they start designing their installation. Step 10: Before they glue the sides of the hexagons together they can be attached with others temporarily with paper clips to make a honeycomb-shaped collaborative installation.
Vocabulary: Art: Mixed media Print Pattern Mathematics: Hexagon Polygon Tessellation Symmetry Radial symmetry Science: Recycling Honeycomb Florida State Standards: Science: Big Idea: Life Science: Organization and Development of Living Organism SC.3.L.17.1 Describe how animals and plants respond to changing seasons.
Mathematics: MAFS.3.G.1 Reason with shapes and their attributes. Art: Big Idea: Innovation, Technology, and the Future VA.3.F.1 Creating, interpreting, and responding in the arts stimulate the imagination and encourage innovation and creative risk-taking. Extension activities: Students can use a compass and ruler to make a flat hexagon. This can be used a template to cut fabric hexagons and be sewn together like a quilt. Students can cut hexagons in aluminum, place them together with jump rings and make necklace or armor. Students can cut strips of paper to achieve bigger hexagons. Students can cut the paper towel rolls to print hexagons.
STEAM 5.0 Calibration Matrix Planning Guide Classroom Grade-level Department School-wide Standard- Driven Activity STEAM 1.0 (Science) STEAM 2.0 (Technology) STEAM 3.0 (Engineering) STEAM 4.0 (Arts) STEAM 5.0 (Mathematics) Activity Title: What s The Buzz? SC.3.L.17.1 Research Demonstration Experimenting Analyzing & Critiquing your own experiments Examine the structure of the honeycomb. o Technology Infusion Smartboard Interactive Presentations Coding Watch videos Interactive games or diagrams o Engineering Process Infusion: Real World Need/Problem Planning Prototyping Testing Redesign/Improve Communicate Findings Designing and constructing a honeycomb VA.3.F.1 Creativity & Innovation Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making Communication and collaboration Describing, analyzing, and critiquing visual and performing artworks Research and report locate, organize, and synthesize information related to visual and performing artworks Create honeycomb prints Create installation MAFS.3.G.1.1 Memorization Computation Word Problems Analyzing & Critiquing your own problems Measuring hexagons Creating graph Marcia 2017-2018 STEAM 5.0 Calibration Matrix Planning Guid