Unit Lesson: Flower and Bee

Watercolor Painting in the Style of

Georgia OKeeffe
EST 643 Beekeeping Integrated Curriculum
Dr. Dyanne M. Tracy
Oakland University
Mary J. Larsen

It all began on the shores of Beaver Island, at the CMU Biological Station. As an Oakland
University graduate student, I was very excited to be a part of the Educational Studies
class: 643 Beekeeping Integrated Curriculum. I was in a little cabin within walking
distance to the station , dining hall and lounge.I loved the view from the lounge.

A few more necessary pieces to the suit, my helmet and veil. My little brush was always
a handy tool when gently brushing the honey bees out of the way.

I was so excited my first day , I gave a thumbs up without zipping up my suit.

Hey, it was a very hot day!

Now, I can give a thumbs up!

Notice the honey bee hives in
the background.
We were at the hives during the
sunniest part of the day, as most
of the bees were out foraging
during this time of the day.

In the classroom, we focused on the biology of the bee and what activity to look
for when inspecting the hive. Could we find eggs? If yes, the queen is doing well.

Finally, I was at the hiveand holding a frame! It was filled with combed honey, pollen
and many busy worker bees.

A close up of the frame with worker bees.

Can you find the queen?

In another area of the island, my hive partner and I were preparing to inspect a hive.

Here, I am smoking the hive to move the bees, so that we can loosen a frame and
lift it up to inspect the level of bee activity on the frame.

We have been cleaning the top of the frames by scraping the wax of the tops of the frames.

The bees are very determined today to work in their hive.

We removed the white super, which was very heavy and then we began to work on the
lower super. My partner has two hives of her own , so I was following her lead as we
worked. But as she hooked the frame on the outside , we looked at each other and said,
Time to close up.

All entrances of the hives faced the sun. The bees use the sun as a compass when
foraging for nectar and pollen.

Beaver Island was one of the

best educational experiences of
my life.
working with peers
inspirational
biological wonderland
no cell phone service

On the ferry, headed home after a wonderful two weeks of beekeeping. Now, I
am all excited to share the wonders of honey bees with my students.

 Nobody sees a flower, it is so small. We havent timeand to see takes time like to have a friend takes time.
-Georgia OKeeffe
The flower will be the focal point as the subject of our
paintings, but I would also like the students to grasp how
important the role is of honey bees, in the process
of pollination.

Unit Lesson: Flower and Bee Watercolor

Painting in the Style of Georgia OKeeffecovering the following areas of study:
The artist- Georgia OKeeffe
The artwork of Georgia 0Keeffe
The anatomy of a flower
Pollination
The anatomy of a honey bee
Various watercolor painting techniques
Use of space and color

Unit Pretest: Number of Students Per

Percentage Range
120
100
80
60

Unit Pretest: Number of

Students Per Percentage
Range

40
20
90-100%

80-89%

70-79%

60-69%

50-59%

40-49%

30-39%

20-29%

10-19%

0-9%

Results based on the students in attendance on the day of the unit pre-test.

Honey.comThe National
Honey Board offers a free
teachers guide download.
This resource was used as a
starting point for my unit:

pre-test questions
introduced the unit by
showing the film
A Bees Life
anatomy of a flower
worksheet
anatomy of a honey bee
worksheet

The artist and works of Georgia OKeeffe were

introduced to the students by viewing the web
site www.okeeffemuseum.org from this site I
was able to navigate through the following areas:
biography of the artist
artwork of the artist
view video of the artist life, homes and artwork
as an actor narrated as Georgia OKeeffe

Pollination
Worksheet #8: Flower Power
Flowers are beautiful and often fragrant to us, but for the plant, flowers serve a
critical function. Flowers are how plants produce seeds to reproduce. In many
cases, the flower contains both male and female parts. In order to reproduce,
pollen, the male contribution, must somehow be transferred to the female part of
the flower called the stigma.

Using the
"Glossary of
Flower Parts,"
label the
following parts of
a fiower:
Anther
Filament
Ovary
Petals

Pollen grains
Sepal
Stigma
Style

Build a Flower: After discussing and identifying the parts of the flower, the students were
assessed on the their knowledge of the parts of the flower, by building a human flower
cooperatively as a group.

Build a Flower: 5th grade students work together to build a flower.

Once the students have successfully identified the parts of the flower, they may
research various types of flowers from the magazines and books in the classroom,
in order to begin a contour line drawing of a flower.

Worksheet # 1: The Honey Bee Body

Label the following:

Abdomen
Fore wing
Head
Hind wing
Honey sac
Legs
Midgut or ventriculus
Pollen basket
Stinger
Thorax
Wax gland

Label the following:

Antenna
Compound eye
Mandible
Ocellus
Proboscis or tongue

Once the students have successfully identified the parts of the honey bee, they
may draw the honey bee on their composition. The honey bee should be drawn
in the process of pollination.

Student example of various watercolor painting techniques. After completing this sampler,
the students were to use at least three of the techniques in their finished painting.

Example of student work as the student begins the painting process.

Example of student work painted in the style of Georgia OKeeffe.

Example of student work painted in the style of Georgia OKeeffe.

Example of student work painted in the style of Georgia OKeeffe.

Unit Post-test: Number of Students Per

Percentage Range
80
70
60
50
40

Unit Post-test: Number of

Students Per Percentage
Range

30
20
10
90-100%

80-89%

70-79%

60-69%

50-59%

40-49%

30-39%

20-29%

10-19%

0-9%

Results based on the students in attendance on the day of the unit pre-test.

Comparison of Unit Pre test and Post-test

120
100
80
60

40

Pre-test

20

Post-test

0
Pre-test

Results based on the students in attendance on the day of the unit tests (N~250).

Pre-test: Would you ever like to care for a beehive?

Yes
10%

Watch others
40%

No
26%

Maybe
24%

Post-test: Would you ever like to care for a beehive?

Watch others
17%

Maybe
36%

Yes
16%

No
31%

Resources:
Boettcher, Alyssa. The Honey Files: A Bees Life. (2001). Retrieved August 2, 2010 from
www.honey.com/downloads/HoneyFilesWeb.pdf
Georgia OKeeffe Museum. (n. d.). Georgia OKeeffe. Retrieved August 2, 2010, from
www.okeeffemuseum.org/
Photos by : Mary Larsen and Gary Miller