I've just updated the Pollination Game and am thrilled with the results. I've added a brand new lesson that's educational and super fun for advanced lower and upper elementary students. After receiving feedback from students who have used the previous version, I realized that the game works best with primary or lower elementary students who need more practice with throwing and catching skills. So, I updated the game to make it more engaging and challenging for all ages. Since this is a significant update to the lesson plan, everyone who has already purchased the old version will be given access to the current one through this blog.

So, if you're looking for an exciting and educational way to teach your students about pollination, I highly recommend checking out the new version of the Pollination Game. I know your students will love it!

Pollination

Montessori Physical Education

Introduction:

Pollination is a critical ecological process that plays a vital role in the reproduction of many plants, including crops essential for human consumption. Pollinators, such as bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds, are responsible for transferring pollen from the male structures of flowers to the female structures, allowing for fertilization and the production of seeds. The importance of pollinators cannot be overstated, as nearly 75% of the world's crops depend on pollinators for reproduction. Without these tiny helpers, our food system would be severely impacted, and our diets would be limited to a few staple crops that do not require pollination. Therefore, protecting and conserving pollinators is crucial to ensure continued food production and the maintenance of healthy ecosystems.

This lesson plan has two levels: one lesson that could be played by primary students or less athletic lower elementary students. In the first game, the students will be the flowers, and the balls will be the bees. This game ensures that everyone, especially those who need it, will feel more comfortable catching it because they will get lots of practice. This is a teamwork-based game where instead of throwing dodgeballs to eliminate players, students are throwing to ensure that their teammates can catch the ball.

The second game for your advanced lower elementary or upper elementary class is a dynamic tag-based game that requires lots of teamwork and communication by the pollinator team. Both games reinforce concepts of pollination and fit well into any botany studies your class may be doing.

Materials

·      Game #1

o   An ample open space such as a gym or field. However, this game can be played in a smaller area like a classroom.

o   A large number of dodgeballs or softer catchable ball

·      Game #2

o   An ample open space such as a gym or field.

Six pairs of hula hoops with matching colors (red, yellow, orange, blue, green, and purple)

o   Six pairs of dodgeballs that match the colors of the hula hoops

o   Pinnies or jerseys to identify the predators

o   Optional:

§  A timer and scoreboard that is visible to the students

Minimum Number of Students Needed:

The first game could be played with five or six students, but they are more fun with an entire class of twenty or more. The second game requires a whole class of twenty or more students to play correctly.

Prior Knowledge: The students should have learned about parts of a flower or pollination. However, this game could also introduce those concepts.

Game #1 Presentation  (Primary students)

·      We will be playing a game based on pollination. Have a copy of the same material the students have seen in the classroom that shows the names of the flower parts. Quickly review the flower parts and ask the students about the pollination process.

·        The primary explanation for pollination is pollen grains are transferred from one flower to another. When an insect visits a flower to eat pollen or drink nectar, pollen from the anther is caught on the insect. When that insect visits another flower, some of that pollen may deposit on the stigma of that flower, which may lead to reproduction. Some plants are self-pollinating, and others are cross-pollinating. The students represent cross-pollinating plants.

·      Once the quick review is done, make one large team with one student standing apart from the large group a considerable distance away. The rest of the students will be lined up on the opposite side of the playing area. This game is like reverse dodgeball because you want the player to catch the ball.

·      The lone student will have one ball. The ball is a bee or pollinating insect, and the students are flowers. The game aims for everyone to move from one line to another by catching a ball (bee). There should be an established line that the thrower(s) cannot cross, so the game is not too easy. However, this line can be moved closer or farther depending on the student's skills. There should also be many dodgeballs in a pile close to the initial thrower. This is where more balls are fetched from when players start catching balls successfully.

·      When the game begins, the student with the ball will throw the ball to a teammate without crossing the line boundary. If the ball is not caught successfully, it should be rolled back to the thrower, who can then throw it again to the same student or another student as quickly as possible.

·      If the ball is caught successfully, the player who caught it keeps it and joins the thrower's side. The initial thrower grabs a new ball from the pile behind them. Now, there are two throwers passing bees to the flowers. This process continues until the team gets all their players to the other side.

·      The throwers must communicate with the people to whom they are throwing the ball. The instructor should give cues and reminders such as making eye contact, calling the student's name, throwing the ball in a manner that your teammate can catch, etc. At the beginning of the game, the first thrower should be the child who needs the least practice catching the ball so that the game can get off to a fast start.

·      After successfully playing a game, you will have a baseline completion time. Then, have the students play again, this time trying to beat the baseline time from the previous game. Repeat.

o   A fun and more difficult variation could be when one player is left on one side. Instead of the game being over, that player becomes the first thrower, and they try to get everyone back to the original side. This version will take longer and protect the ego of a student with a lot of trouble catching. Instead of being on the spot to catch the ball to win the game, they become the first thrower to get everyone back, so they won't have the pressure to catch the last ball.

Game #2 Presentation  (Lower and Upper Elementary)

·      Within the playing area, scatter twelve hula hoops, ensuring not to have two of the same-colored hula hoops together. After the hula hoops have been scattered, place a dodgeball of the matching color into each hula hooper. The hoop is a flower, and the dodgeball is its pollen.

·      Based on the number of students playing, select the "predator" players. For a class of twenty students, I usually use three predator players. I would only use one predator player for a group of less than ten. The predator players wear a jersey to identify themselves to the pollinator players.

·      The rest of your class is the "pollinator" team, aiming to get a specific score within a particular time. While you can experiment with the score and time, I have found that a score of twenty in two minutes is possible but tricky for a class of twenty.

·      The pollinator team scores points by getting a pollen (dodgeball) of the same color to a hoop of that color. For example, when a player steps into the blue hoop, they pick up the blue ball. Their objective is to run to the other blue hoop to pollinate it or score a point for the pollinator team.

·      When a pollinator player is inside a hoop, the predator cannot tag them, so the hoop acts like a "base" in a traditional tag game. However, it is not a good strategy for a player to stand in the hoop too long because only one player is allowed at a time. If a player stays in one spot for too long, they prevent other players from scoring points in that hoop because they are occupying it.

·      When a pollinator steps inside a hoop, if the ball is in the hoop, they must pick it up. If they are already holding a ball, they must exchange the ball they are holding with the one in the hoop, even if they are the same color. This represents how pollen grains get stuck to pollinators and are transferred to other flowers.

·      When a pollinator takes a ball from one colored hoop to the other same colored hoop, they should hold the ball up high to show the teacher that they have scored a point. Once their score is recorded, they drop the ball in the hoop, or if there is a ball inside the hoop, they exchange it.

·      A pollinator can run into a hoop with a ball of a different color from the one they are holding to seek shelter from a pursuing predator. However, that does not score a point, and the pollinator player must either drop their ball or exchange it if there is a ball in the hoop.

During the debrief, we can explain that while this cross-pollination did not score any points in the game, it is possible for similar plants to pollinate each other, which gives this new plant characteristics from the genetic material of each parent plant.

·      To start the game, the predators start in the middle of the playing area, and all the pollinators surround it. When the teacher says go, the pollinators rush into the playing area and try to get into a hoop before a predator player can tag them. If you have an entire class playing, some players will not have a flower to land on safely, so they will have to evade a chasing predator.

·      If a pollinator player is tagged, they join the teacher for the remainder of the round. Since the rounds are very quick at two minutes, having the player wait until the next round keeps them inactive for only a short amount of time and adds a consequence for getting "eaten" by a predator.

·      If a pollinator has a ball in hand when they get tagged, they take it out of the game.

·      If a ball is dropped while going from one hoop to another, it is out of the game. It's like a pollen grain blown off a bee by the wind that will not fertilize another flower.

·      Here is a diagram of the game in action

·      Some clever students will try to switch with someone of the same color hoop by going back and forth between the two. However, this is a valid but also a predictable strategy for a predator player. If two players are switching, it would look like this:

·      Besides the obvious connections of the gameplay to the pollination mechanism, there can also be a rich discussion on strategy and risk versus reward. Students who utilize the above switching pattern must use good communication skills to do it correctly. Students who wait too long in a hoop may be keeping themselves safe from getting tagged, but that might prevent a score from happening in that flower. On more than one occasion, I have seen a pollinator player refuse to leave a flower, even though another pollinator player had the same-colored ball ready to score. Because the player in the hoop is so averse to risk, they deny a point for the whole team. Additionally, there is a good chance the denied player gets tagged by the predator. You could use this teachable moment to discuss selflessness and how we sometimes do risky things for the benefit of everyone else (e.g., necessary dangerous professions).

Aims:

Direct:    For the children to reinforce the terminology of the parts of a flower and to learn about the mechanism of pollination

Indirect: 

 Listening to directions

Teamwork and team building

Communication

Strategy

Physical skills practiced: 

·      Game #1

o   Throwing the ball in a manner that is easy to catch

o   Catching a ball

·      Game #2

o   Running in pursuit or evasion

Control Of Error: 

For the first game, it will be simple to determine whether the ball was caught. For the second game, students will have to be honest about whether they were tagged or not. Also, students must understand the rules sufficiently to help the teacher with scorekeeping by raising the ball when they make it to the correct hoop. However, some students incorrectly hold the ball up, which the teacher may try to monitor, but it won't be easy.

Points of Interest: The students will work hard to give good throws to those not as good at catching. They will often cheer for them because their individual success is imperative for the whole team to win. The gameplay of the second game is very dynamic and exciting because the students communicate with teammates while trying to avoid getting tagged.

Age: The first game is best for primary or lower elementary students who need additional work with throwing and catching. The second game is suitable for both lower and upper elementary students.