Education Resources
The Close-Springhurst pollinator garden, established in May 2021, is an opportunity for learning about plants, pollinating insects, ecosystems, and our responsibility to protect them. It is located at the southernmost corner of Close Avenue and can be seen from the two sidewalks on the corner. If you contact us in advance, we could try to have someone come and give a brief talk.
Curriculum links
The following Ontario curriculum expectations align with a visit to the pollinator garden:
- Grade 1: Our actions can have an impact on the natural and built features of the community, so it is important for us to act responsibly.
- A community consists of different areas, each of which has a specific layout and characteristics .
- Grade 2: Humans can have negative impacts on animals and also minimize them.
- Grade 3: Plants are an essential part of the world, we need to understand the importance of plants, protect native plant species. We can take personal actions to minimize negative impacts and enhance ones. Healthy soil is important and human activities and decisions about land use may alter the environment .
- Grade 4: People have an impact on habitats and communities, different species interactively share a common habitat and interconnected food webs. Human activities should balance environmental stewardship with human needs and wants.
- Grade 5: Human uses of energy and natural resources have effects on society and the environment, including climate change.
- Grade 6: We need to understand biodiversity, including personal actions that can be taken, why interrelationships among diverse species is essential, and the threat of invasive species.
- Grade 7: We need to understand ecosystems and their various components, how matter is cycled within them, and what can impact them. Natural events and human activities that change Earth’s physical features can have social, political, environmental, and economic consequences .
- Grade 8: Fresh water is becoming scarce of fresh water, and is impacted by impact of pollution. We need to develop sustainable communities that function within the limits of our physical environment.
- Grade 9: Ecosystems are affected by humans, and local initiatives can preserve them. Soil composition and influences.
- Grade 11 and 12: Human intervention can impact biodiversity and ecosystems, there is a need for green space and plants in urban environments, individuals and communities can respond to environmental challenges.
Resources and Activities
The following resources can be used in the classroom, the schoolyard, or at home by students of various ages to learn more about pollinators, native plants, and ecodiversity.
Toronto Outdoor Education Schools has outdoor Get Outside elementary math lessons for the month of May, and deep list of nature-related resources for all ages and subjects.
Pollinator Partnership Canada has a packed site, including links to art activities, planting guides, a video for older students, a scavenger hunt, and a crossword puzzle.
Bee City Canada has videos, readalongs, singalongs, crafts, and a scavenger hunt for primary school students.
Pollinator Partnership International offers the “Nature’s Partners” curriculum, with 120 pages of resource for students in grades 3 to 6.
The Pollinator Field Day Curriculum is for grades K–8 from the American National Association of Conservation Districts, and has resources for one-day activities.
Pollinator Live is an American source of lesson plans, webcasts, and gardening ideas for all ages centred on supporting pollinators.