Year 4

Build a honeybee hotel

Introduction
HELP! HELP! The bees are in trouble and it is up to
you to save them! Without our precious bees we
will have no pollination which means no more
flowers, no more fruits and no more food. Bees
are such an important part of our ecosystems and
we desperately need them to survive. The world is
in your hands please HELP them!

Brief:
You are going to design and construct a bee hotel
made out of recycled materials that is suitable for
our native Australian bees to live in.

Generating designs:
You are invited to generate a series of designs as potential solutions for your bee
hotels. These designs are an example of what the bee hotels will look like. To generate
your ideas, you will be using a range of techniques such as drawing, sketching and
model making. You are going to design and label the recycled materials you are using
for your bee hotel. You must aim to use the materials available and any outside
materials brought to class. You will be discussing your ideas with your allocated group.

Project specification: You will be designing the bee hotels individually and with your
group. You MUST use recycled materials to create your model of your bee hotel. The
bee hotel that you are going to create must be able to stand up on its own and have a
hook on it as it will be hung up on the trees around the school. There also must be a
place for the bees to nest in. You will have Mrs smith (educative assistant), Miss Booth
(classroom teacher) and a parent helper to help with creating your design as, you will
need help with cutting wood and using the hot glue gun.
Some recycled materials you can use:
- Wood - Bamboo
- Metal Cans (drinking/food) - Pvc Pipe
- Paper straws - Styrofoam
- Metal - Timber
- Paper - Cardboard
 Time: You will have 8 60-minute
lessons spread across this term.
Lesson 1: Introducing the design
brief, learning about native
bees bringing in materials,
planning.
Lesson 2: children’s literature,
generating ideas, looking at
examples, drawing a design.
Lesson 3: making design.
Lesson 4: making design.
Project management Lesson 5: making design.
Step 1: To begin your project, you will be Lesson 6: making design.
learning about the native bees in Australia and Lesson 7: Finishing touches,
why they are so important. You will be presenting, initial evaluation,
introduced to some examples of bee hotels and putting it up around the school
different recycling materials you can use. Lesson 8: Evaluating the bee
Step 2: As a group you will be brainstorming hotel after it being hung up for
some recycled materials to use for your bee a week.
hotel. You will be individually sketching, planning
and labelling your bee hotel. You will be
discussing with groups which parts from the plan
you like best and then you will draw your design
together as a group on an A3 piece of paper.
Step 3: You will be making your bee hotel using
the group design you created. You will make
your hotel with the help of your group and a
parent helper.

Presentation:
You will be presenting
your design to another
group. This group will be
peer assessing your
presentation. You will
then swap with the
group and they will
present their design.
Evaluation:
You will be testing the design by hanging the bee hotel
up on a tree and checking it each week to see its
durability, whether it can be stay on its own, and if
native Australian bees go in it (this will be test over the
course of 2 weeks). You will be taking a photo of your
bee hotel and individually doing a self-reflection once
you have made the bee hotel. You will then reflect on
your bee hotel again after the first week of the bee
hotel being hung up on a tree.

Sustainability goal:
This design brief links to sustainability goal 15: life on land as it addresses the
importance of bee life and their habitat.