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Print these posters and assemble into a larger, 4-part posterFloral Advertisement – A Little Bit MoreIt might seem strange to think of many flowers as “advertisements” but that is exactly what they are – they’re adapted for attracting pollinators. Fossil records show that flowering plants have been around for at least 120 million years. Although some birds, bats, and other small mammals, even a lizard, may act as pollinators, the vast majority are flying insects. Those plants that depend on insect pollination need to attract insects once they’re ready to reproduce and color, pattern, and/or odor does the trick. Once an insect arrives, then pollen, nectar, and plant oils provide the incentive to keep on visiting others, thus ensuring pollination. The actual anatomy of a flower usually enhances the chances of an insect providing a pollination service but not necessarily for all species; some flowers are species specific. It’s interesting to note that some insects that are unable to easily reach pollen or nectar in a deep trumpet-shaped flower, for example, may instead chew their way into the flower and “steal” what it wants without providing a pollination service.In North America there are about 4,000 species of native bees alone that provide pollination, and this doesn’t include non-native Honey Bees or all of the other kinds of insect pollinators. Without a doubt, insect pollination is crucial for helping humans raise food crops. Any orchard grower will tell you that providing bees for apple pollination, as one example, is essential for a good crop of apples. Floral Advertisement – See For YourselfActivity: Science – Pollen PleaseObjective: Get a good look at pollen Materials: Flowers (old ones will do just fine) from a local florist, hand lens Although people often talk about pollen, I would suspect that many people have never even seen this interesting floral product. If you have access to a local florist, ask them if you could have a variety of “spent” flowers that you can bring in to share with students. Florists often have flowers that age to the point where they can’t be sold but are still valuable for “scientific” purposes. Bring in your flowers to the classroom and allow the students to examine them closely with a hand lens/magnifying glass and see if they can find pollen grains. Some flowers will be easy to do this while others may be more difficult. In any event, any pollen they find should be interesting for them to see. INQUIRY: Here’s a question you may want to challenge your students with. Can you think of a way to determine whether a certain kind of plant’s flowers have airborne or insect-borne pollen? National Science Standards Addressed:
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