Listed below are selected teacher resources, picture books, and non-fiction related bees and gardening.
Teacher Resources
Big Ideas in Outdoor Primary Science: Understanding and Enjoying the Natural World
by Peter Loxely
Grades: K-5
This book provides strategies for elementary school teachers, emphasising how to teach children how to look after the planet, and learn from what scientists have to say about contemporary issues.
Hollyhocks and Honeybees: garden projects for young children
by Kara Midden, Marla Olthof, and Sara Starbuck
Grades: K-5
This guide details the inclusion of gardening in the preschool curriculum at a university child development program in Illinois. The guide also includes lists of children’s books and reference books about gardens and garden creatures, and lists of sources for garden and environmental education supplies.
by Kaci Rae Christopher
Grades: K-3
The School Garden Curriculum offers a comprehensive framework for outdoor learning. From seasonal garden activities to inquiry projects and science-skill building, children will develop organic gardening solutions, a positive land ethic, systems thinking, and instincts for ecological stewardship.
Victory Gardens for Bees: A DIY Guide to Saving the Bees
by Lori Weidenhammer
Grades: K-12
This book examines the growing problem of the decline of bees and offers suggestions for ways we can help to protect bees.
Non-fiction
What’s the Buzz? Keeping Bees in Flight
by Marie-Ellen Wilcox
Grades: 5-7
What’s the Buzz? Celebrates bees and encourages readers to do their part to keep the hives alive. This book belongs to the Orca Footprints series for middle readers, which answers children’s questions about the state of the natural world, resource sustainability, and how to be global citizens. See also the Orca Footprints Guide, which includes ideas on how to present and use these books.
by Nadia Higgins
Grades: 1-3
This book explores the process of pollination and teaches readers to explore science concepts through step-by-step instructions. Audisee(R) eBooks with Audio combines professional narration and text highlighting to engage readers.
by Bobbie Kalman
Grades: 3-5
This book describes each stage of a honeybee’s life cycle through the use of full-colour photographs and vivid illustrations
by Owen Ruth
Grades: K-3
Readers explore a backyard habitat and discover how all living things form an ecosystem and rely on each other for survival.
Take a Closer Look at Bees, (E-book)
by Joanne Early Macken
Grades: 5-6
This book investigates why bees are at risk, why we should care, and what we can do to help protect them.
Picture Books
The Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive
By Joana Cole
Grades: K-3
When Ms. Frizzle takes her class on a field trip to visit a beekeeper and his hive, the magic school bus shrinks and takes the kids on a journey inside the hive.
by Alison Formento and Sarah Snow
Grades: K-3
Mr. Tate’s class visits a bee and honey farm, where Farmer Ellen teaches the children how to listen to the bees talk.
by Alison Jay
Grades: K+
In this wordless picture book, a young girl befriends a bee that takes her on a journey of discovery.
Honey Bees: Letters from the Hive
by Stephen Buchmann
Grades: 4-6
This book offers an immersive exploration of beehives, gardens, and wildflowers.
by Maggie de Vries, Renne Benoit
Grades: 2-4
City kids Sophie and Matthew are growing pumpkins, but they’re worried that the bees won’t be able to find their garden to pollinate their plants. Will the bees be able to find their garden in the big city?
Finding More Resources
To find more resources in this area, try the following:
- Search using the General tab on the UBC Library website to look for material in all UBC Library branches.
- Search using “Search Education Resources” box in the left hand bar on the Education Library website to limit your results to materials in the Education Library.
- Use specific search terms to narrow your results, such as “bees–juvenile literature”, “gardening–juvenile literature”, “weather”, or “science–study and teaching”.
- To find lesson plans, include “lesson plans”, “lesson planning”, or “activity programs” in your search terms.
For more help with searching, please visit the Library Service Desk or e-mail ed.lib@ubc.ca.