This week the NUSTEM Pop-Up Shop visited Outer West Library on Tuesday and the Beacon Shopping Centre on Wednesday.

Out theme this half term is pollinators. Birds, bats, butterflies, moths, flies, beetles, wasps, small mammals, and most importantly, bees are pollinators. They visit flowers to drink nectar or feed on pollen and transport pollen grains as they move from spot to spot. It is through pollination that plants are fertilised and able to produce the next generation of plants, including the fruit and crops we eat. Pollinators pollinate over 180,000 different plant species and more than 1200 crops. That means that 1 out of every three bites of food you eat is there because of pollinators.  Pollinators also support healthy ecosystems that clean the air, stabilise soils, protect from severe weather, and support other wildlife.

You can attract pollinators to your garden by planting the seeds in the packet you made at the Pop Up Shop.

The careers we have chosen that link to pollinators are:

Ecologist– scientists who study how people plants and animals interact with each other in an ecosystem. They are collaborative, organised, communicators.

Environmental Scientist– scientists interested in the world around us and how we are changing it. They are passionate, creative and committed.

Entomologist – scientists who study insects. They are  logical, hard working and tenacious.

Apiarist (bee keeper) – manage and maintain bee colonies. They are observant, self motivated and patient.

Behaviour Scientist– scientists who study the way insects behave. They are curious, collaborative and resilient.

You might want to try our related STEM at home activities:

Make a wormery using an empty pop bottle.

Grow some seeds in a plastic bag in your home.

Make floating paper flowers – the folded petals of your flowers will open up and your flower will bloom when placed in water.