Growing up in Maryland, Will Allen hated farming! After a career in professional basketball and working in a “white shirt job,” Will turned his attention to helping a Milwaukee community learn to grow their own food when he rediscovered a passion for working in the dirt. This book will inspire children and teachers to look at every pot or plot of dirt as a place to grow something.Grade Level: 3rd-5thLexile Level: AD630LGuided Reading Level: TGenre: Nonfiction

Ever wonder how food gets from the farm to the table? The Bee Cause Project has partnered with SC Ag in the Classroom to create this unique roadmap from the farm to a local food hub and finally to the table of a local restaurant. The Educator’s Guide provides Resources, Recommended Reading List, Activities, Discussion Questions, and the full recipe for Basic Kitchen’s Collard Roll with Yuzu Dipping Sauce! The video, The Journey of Food: From the Farm to the Table can be found on The Bee Cause Project YouTube Channel. 

Anyone in North America can join this special community research project to help scientists map fireflies! Ten minutes once a week in your own backyard or field can help scientists understand the numbers and patterns of these unique pollinators. There is a training video and sign up information on the website for you and your students to explore! 

Scout is a little honey bee with a big mission! She needs to find the last flowers of fall to get the sweet nectar that she and her sisters will turn into honey. With winter on the way, honey will provide the food to keep the hive alive until spring. But she’s got some pretty big obstacles coming her way!Lexile Level: AD840LGuided Reading Level: OGenre: Nonfiction

Students will observe the physical characteristics of flowers and explore the principles of pollination with this 3rd-5th grade lesson. From Bee Dancing to flower direction, this lesson will engage young minds and explore the miracle of flower reproduction with some amazing little pollinators! 

Students will observe the physical characteristics of flowers and explore the principles of pollination with this 3rd-5th grade lesson. From Bee Dancing to flower direction, this lesson will engage young minds and explore the miracle of flower reproduction with some amazing little pollinators! Attribution for image used: "Balancing Act" by LadyDragonflyCC - >;< is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Want to know a secret? Flowers actually ‘talk’ to animals! This beautifully written and illustrated informational text is a delightful way to introduce the symbiotic relationship between plants and pollinators. Full of interesting facts and told from the perspective of a “prickly” cactus, this book will enlighten and entertain your audience.Grade Level: 2nd-5th Lexile Level: 570L Guided Reading Level: Q Genre: Informational Text

The Great Sunflower Project is a great way to use Citizen Scientist's observations of bees nationwide to create an online map of the bee population with special attention given to sunflower pollinators. Your students can join the thousands of volunteers to gather pollinator information as part of this data collection. With the bee population in decline, students can actively assist in getting to the bottom of the causes of this environmental issue. There is an introductory video provided in English and Spanish by PBS, a Quick Start Guide, maps, opportunities to observe individual data, and loads of other resources to get your students outdoors and counting pollinators!

Bees are incredibly important to the production of almonds! In this 3rd-5th grade lesson, students will learn how almonds go from the farm to the table while distinguishing between facts and opinions about the growing season! This lesson includes background information, vocabulary words, video links, step-by-step procedures, and links to other valuable lessons. 

Did you know that honey bees dance? Or that they build their homes out of perfectly formed honeycomb? The Digital Hive Experience was created to educate about the inside of a beehive and our friends, the honey bees. Pair the Digital Hive Video with the companion Educator’s Guide! Included are a lesson plan mapped to the Common Core and NGSS, pre and post-assessments, discussion questions, and a KWL Chart for your students! Perfect for a classroom introduction or for programs that may not have live bees, we hope you enjoy your journey into the hive!

Did you know that honey bees can dance? Do you know why bees build honeycombs in the shape of a hexagon? Do you know how many eyes honey bees have? Bees live a secret life inside their hive...but NOW we can see what goes on in a live hive. The Bee Cause and its partners are on a mission to inspire children to learn about and protect these precious pollinators. That's why we've created the Digital Bee Hive Experience - to educate our community of learners about this vital ecosystem. 

This video is designed to highlight the resources and educational tools provided on the Sweet Virginia website. Each of the five lessons has a downloadable, printable document including high-resolution photographs, video suggestions, and original text.  Go to sweetvirginia.org for more information about their programs including the "Ask A Beekeeper" video links. 

This lesson from the National Agriculture in the Classroom Matrix is designed to teach students about the parts of honey bees, the stages of the lifecycle, and the role honey bees play in pollination. There are three activities including materials lists, vocabulary words, background connections, support documents, step-by-step procedures, and support videos. 

This Educators Guide provides everything you need to make this virtual field trip a huge success with your students! You will find lists of materials and resources, step-by-step instructions for three complete lessons, journal prompts as well as research topics, supplementary card work, and standards mapping.

Get the buzz about honey bees in this brilliant, nonfiction title by Gail Gibbons. From jobs within the hive to modern-day beekeeping and all of the millions of flowers in between, these are some busy bees! Without the honey makers, the world would be a much different place. Help young readers learn to love the bees!Lexile Level: 770LGuided Reading Level: OGenre: NonfictionPre-Reading

Flor has been looking forward to summer with her best friend since last summer! But an unexpected twist of fate lands her working in her family’s mattress store and her best friend at band camp. Herlife gets even worse when she has to compete in the local honey pageant (again) and volunteer to help a recluse beekeeper with her worst frenemy. With her parents fighting and the possibility of moving to New Jersey on the horizon, this summer cannot get any worse.Grade Level: 3rd-7thLexile Level: 870LGuided Reading Level: SGenre: fiction, chapter book 

Insight is a free IOS app that was developed by Border Free Bees and Pollinator Partnerships to inspire and empower citizens including students age four and up to learn about North America's pollinators. When you join Insight Citizen Science, you become a member of this national team, participating in observation-based research. The link provided will take you to the website for more information and a how-to video. When entering the name and email information, be sure to select the Bee Cause Project as your organization.  

This non-fiction favorite explains all about the honey bee. From egg to bee and everything in between, Micucci answers questions for young readers about honey production, bee dancing, and beekeeping practices. Learn what the bees are doing around the world and what bees have done throughout history! Lexile Level: IG910L Guided Reading Level: N Genre: Nonfiction

Looking for a project for middle school-age students? This project-based learning experience will allow students to solve the problem of excess beeswax, a byproduct of honey bees, by developing a useful beeswax product and marketing their product to be sold in a local boutique or farmers market. This is a great way to drum up business and interest with students and the community in preparation for starting your own Bee Club! This lesson has step-by-step instructions and how-to documents to help the educator facilitate the process.  

As part of our continued commitment to education, the team at The Bee Cause Project has created this companion document, Educator’s Curriculum Guide, to supplement the Nature’s Partners curriculum.Our Tips from the Hive are designed to add layers of concept extensions, optional digital methods of delivering content, and support to educators that are either brand new or experienced environmental educators. The Buzz Worthy Resource Materials are video links, notable articles, and more printable resources, while the Bee Cause Book Club highlights recommended readings for students of all ages. Several titles have quality read-aloud links as well.