The Kentucky Extension Community Assessment facilitated by the Kenton County Cooperative Extension staff in 2018 identified multiple issues related to youth and the environment around them.  Referencing discussions held with local 4-H volunteer leaders and members of the SCS Board, and local school system personnel, a new pollinator lesson was created to educate 4-H members about pollinators in their environment.  NGSS Appendix J – Science, Technology, Society and the Environment served as a guiding resource when selecting presentation materials and the design of the lesson.  

The new 4-H lesson was introduced to 290 fourth grade youth.  The lesson explained and illustrated what pollen is and how it can be moved around.   Identifying other pollinators in addition to bees, reinforced a lesson from earlier in the semester about butterflies also serving as pollinators.  Discussion and demonstration at each school allowed youth to visualize pollinator habitats that they previously not considered important in their school environment.  Additionally, youth dissected flowers to investigate what attracts pollinators to flowers and the parts of the flower that would produce a new seed.  

Written assessments collected after each lesson indicated that the 4-H’ers were very interested to learn about some pollinators being attracted to colors or not seeing a color.  Many youth were highly inquisitive about the colors of pollen and how a seed develops in the flower.  Follow up is needed to reinforce the importance of a variety of plant species to support multiple pollinators through a range of seasons.  Youth in this age group commented repeatedly about bees, but were not concerned about the sustainability of bees as a pollinator likely due to an experience of being stung or being warned about a sting potential.  The final assessment for each youth member was identifying five parts of a flower verbally using and actual flower sample.  The verbal assessment was given to an adult in the room.  Three selective mute youth did indicate to their teacher the parts of the flower and participated fully in the lesson.  

Considerations for the future will be revising the evaluation method due to accommodate multiple different types of special needs, including speech, hearing, and writing; as well as a longer introduction about bees and how they make honey in a bee hive.  A video presentation of this portion of the lesson will be more effective and a resource from Walt Disney Studios is being sought.  Additional follow up will also be needed with translation services for Spanish speaking members.