Bees are Buzzing
Grade 4: Unit 4: Lesson 23
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Let’s investigate insect populations.
Estimation Exploration: Bees
Warm-Up
Let’s Talk About!
• Is anyone’s estimate less than 100? Is anyone’s estimate greater than 1,000?
• Based on this discussion, does anyone want to revise their estimate?
• What are some other insects or bugs you know or have seen?
Termites, Ants, and Bees
Activity 1
Here is some information about insects:
Termites
• Size of a colony: 100–1,000,000
• A queen lives for 30–50 years.
• There are 3,000–3,500 species of termites.
• The length of a termite is 4 to 15 millimeters.
• In some species, the mature queen may produce around 40,000 eggs a day.
Here is some information about insects:
Odorous House Ants
• Size of colony: up to 100,000
• A queen lives for 300–1,800 days.
• The length of an ant is 1.5–3.2 millimeters.
• Foraging ants travel up to 700 feet from their nests.
• There are 12,000–22,000 possible species.
Here is some information about insects:
Honey Bees
• Size of a hive: 10,000–60,000
• There are around 500 drones in a hive.
• A queen can lay about 1,500–2,000 eggs each day.
• A hive produces 7–40 liters of honey in a season.
• The length of a bee is 10–20 millimeters.
a. Here are some numbers that could represent facts about termites, house ants, and honey bees. What might each number represent?
b. Add another number to the list. What about the insects might this number represent? __________________
c. Discuss your answers with your partner. Be prepared to show or explain your reasoning.
Here are some numbers that could represent facts about termites, house ants, and honey bees. What might each number represent?
number | what it might represent |
2.4 | |
8 | |
487 | |
1,794 | |
6,905 | |
20,799 | |
530,097 | |
Let’s Talk About It!
Bee Population
Activity 2
What do you notice? What do you wonder?
Complete the missing information in the table.
An entomologist records the number of bees in their beehive over the course of several months.
They record:
• the number of bees at the beginning of the month
• how many bees left (and didn’t return) during the month
• how many new bees were added to the hive during the month
Unfortunately, some of the entries in the table are missing.
Let’s Talk About It!
• How did you decide which operation to use to complete each cell?
• How did you find the number of bees in the hive at the beginning of the month?
• What other mathematical questions can we ask?
Lesson Synthesis
Today we explored how the population of bees can change over time.
What did you learn today about the mathematics an entomologist might use as part of their
work?
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