Hello, my name is Mrs. Mehrin and I'm so excited to be learning all about dangers to pollinators with you.

Let's begin.

Welcome to today's lesson from the unit Reproduction and life cycle: plants.

Your lesson outcome is I can describe why pollinating species are in decline and the impact this has on plants.

Now I know that learning can sometimes be a little bit challenging but that's okay, because it just means that we are going to work really hard together and we're going to learn some fabulous new things.

We're also going to be referring to some of your previous learning all about pollinators and what kinds of animals are best to pollinate flowers and plants.

So here are your keywords for today.

Along with these, I have got your definition as well.

I am going to be referring to these throughout today's video.

However, if you find it helpful, you can pop the video on pause and you can jot these down now.

Fantastic, well done.

So our lesson is put into two parts today.

Let's begin with the first part, why pollinators are important.

So many plants reproduce by forming seeds.

But to do this, they first need to be pollinated.

Pollination is when pollen is transferred from the anther which is the male part of the flower, to a stigma which is the female part of the flower.

So here we have the anther and here we have the stigma.

And Jun says, how does pollen get moved from one flower to another? What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Fantastic, well done.

So there's lots of ways that pollen moves from one flower to another.

So some plants are pollinated by wind.

This means that pollen is blown off the male part of the flower, which is called the anther, and carried away into the wind.

Then some of that pollen lands on stigmas of other flowers of the same type.

Now on a stigma, there is a sticky substance which allows for the pollen to stick to it.

So it's not just gonna get blown right off the stigma again by the wind.

Now many types of flowering plant are pollinated by animals.

Pollen rubs off a flower's anthers onto the animal's body when it visits the flower looking for food.

So flowers have this sugary substance which a lot of animals really like and need as part of their diet.

And so they go to the flowers to find that nectar.

And as they dig deep to find the nectar, the pollen sticks on them from the anther.

And then when the animal moves to flower, that pollen that's stuck on them is carried onto its body and then some of it is rubbed off on the stigma of these flowers as they're trying to gather this nectar.

So which statement is correct? Is it A, all flowering plants are pollinated by animals.

B, many types of flowering plants are pollinated by animals.

C, very few types of flowering plants are pollinated by animals.

Or D, no types of flowering plants are pollinated by animals.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is B.

Many types of flowering plants are pollinated by animals.

Now animals that pollinate flowers are called pollinators.

Lucas says, which animals are pollinators? Andeep says, I think it's just bees because they are the only animals that make honey.

And Alex says, I think other insects can be pollinators too, because I've seen butterflies visiting flowers.

What do you think? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

So bees are important pollinators, but there are many other animals that also pollinate flowers.

Many types of insects including butterflies, flies, beetles, wasps, and moths can be pollinators.

Some types of birds and mammals can also be pollinators.

Can you think of any? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So you've got a hummingbird, elephant shrew, and a bat.

Around 75% of flowering plant species are pollinated by animals.

And without pollinators, the amount of these crops we are able to grow would greatly decrease and some plants would not be able to reproduce at all.

So if you remember from our last lesson we talked about what kind of animals make really good pollinators.

So any animal with a feathery body so the pollen can stick to them or with a long beak or that have wings so that they can fly from one flower to another really fast and carry that pollen with them.

Now many plants that are pollinated by animals are used as food sources for humans.

So crops that are grown in the UK that rely on pollinators include apples, strawberries, raspberries, and cucumbers.

And many other crops grown in other parts of the world also depend on pollinators to reproduce, including watermelons, avocados, and cocoa beans.

And a world without pollinators would be a world without chocolate and a lot of the food that we rely on to survive.

So let's do a quick check-in of your learning.

Cucumbers, strawberries, raspberries, and apples rely on something to reproduce.

Is it animal pollinators, wind pollination, or C, farmer pollination? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

It would be A, animal pollinators.

Now many of the crops grown to feed livestock are also pollinated by animals, such as alfalfa and clover.

And without pollinators, there would be far less food for sheep, so farmers would be able to harvest less wool.

Let's do a quick check-in of your learning so far.

True or false? Production of animal products would not be affected if there were no animals to pollinate plants.

Is that true or false? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is false.

Now why do you think this might be? Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

And that's because many crops grown to feed the animals used for meat production rely on pollinators.

And without them, there would be far less food for livestock.

Now let's have a look at your first task today.

It says, explain what would happen to the amount of food we would be able to produce if there were no pollinators.

So you might want to use the following words in your explanation.

Pollinator, crops, food, plants, and animals.

Okay, so I'd like you to pause the video here and have a go at doing this activity.

Off you go.

Fabulous, well done.

So without pollinators, lots of the crops we use for food would not be able to reproduce as much or at all.

This would result in less food.

In the UK, we would be able to produce fewer strawberries, raspberries, apples, and cucumbers.

The production of animal products such as meat, wool, and eggs would be affected as cattle and chicken need to eat food that also come from plants pollinated by animals.

So now we are on to the second part of our learning today, which is dangers to pollinators.

So the number of pollinators across the world is declining.

That means there are less pollinators across the world and they are becoming even less in number.

This means that there are fewer of them alive each year than there were in the previous years.

The numbers of some species of pollinators have dropped so much that they've become endangered.

So here we've got an endangered tansy beetle and an endangered grayling butterfly.

This means that they are at risk of becoming extinct, so being completely wiped out.

Many pollinator species are in decline because of habitat loss.

So habitats are where your animals live.

And when buildings and roads are constructed on previously wild land or land is converted for farming, pollinators lose their habitats.

And that would then cause them to die because they would have nowhere to live and nowhere to find food.

Habitat loss means there's less space for pollinators to find shelter and food and to reproduce.

And this results in fewer of them surviving and fewer offspring being created.

And construction is causing a loss of habitat because the population of people is increasing.

And so to keep up with that, a lot of new housing is having to be built.

And to keep up with our consumption and how much we use, we are causing a lot of destruction to habitats.

So many pollinators are affected by something loss.

Is it A, pollution loss.

B, habitat loss.

C, farming loss.

Or D, building loss.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is B, habitat loss.

Now pollinators are also impacted by the use of pesticides.

And pesticides are substances used to kill living things that are considered to be pests.

So different pesticides can be used to target certain kinds of animals such as slugs or aphids, or certain types of plants like weeds.

And pesticides are used by farmers and gardeners to kill living things that damage their crops.

And this can help their crop plants to grow stronger and produce fruit and vegetables more successfully.

But this does cause harm on pollinators.

So many of the pesticides that the farmers are using are causing harm on our pollinators who we desperately need.

And pesticides that reduce the growth of weeds also reduce the amount of flowers.

And this means that there's less nectar that's available for pollinators that use this as a food source.

So if they don't have that as a food source, they are going to die out because they cannot survive without food.

So let's do a quick check-in of your learning.

How can pesticides harm pollinators? Is it A, they can be poisonous and harm or kill pollinators.

B, they increase the growth of flowering plants.

C, they kill flowering plants that are pollinator food sources.

Or D, they allow crops to grow larger than they would without pesticides.

Again, I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is A and C.

Now Aisha has been learning about threats to pollinators.

And she says, I'm not a farmer or a gardener.

I don't think there is anything that I can do to help.

What do you think? Is there anything that Aisha can do to help or can't she not do anything because she's not a farmer or a gardener? I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So some of the things that can be done to help pollinators will fall to specific people.

So for example, town and city planners are responsible for ensuring there are spaces for wildlife in populated areas and farmers are responsible for reducing the use of harmful pesticides.

However, there are some things everyone can do to help pollinators.

We can research waste to help pollinators by using secondary sources of information such as reading books, leaflets, and websites, speaking to farmers or town planners, visiting in nature reserve to gather information from experts.

And doing all of those things is really going to help us.

Let's do a quick check-in of your learning so far.

How can we find out more about ways to help pollinators? Is it A, by carrying out research using secondary sources.

B, carrying out a comparative test investigation.

Or C, observing pictures of pollinators online.

I'll give you five seconds to think about your answer to this question.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

The answer is A, carrying out research using secondary sources.

Now here is task B.

It says carry out some research using secondary sources to identify three things people can do to help pollinators and explain why they will be helpful.

And Aisha says, I'm going to use secondary sources to learn about what I can do to help, which is a fantastic idea.

So I want you now to pause the video here and I want you to have a look at some secondary sources.

And remember, you can rewind the video here and you can go back to the slide where I talked about the things that you could use as secondary resources.

And I want you to identify three things that people can do that are going to help pollinators.

And I want you to tell me how they are going to be helpful.

Okay, so I'd like you to pause the video here.

Off you go.

Fantastic, well done.

So you might have researched building an insect hotel because this helps, it gives, this helps because it gives pollinators a safe place to rest and lay eggs.

You might say cutting the grass less often.

And this helps because longer grass provides a habitat for insects and letting weeds grow provides food sources for them.

Planting wildflowers.

So these provide food sources for pollinators.

Providing water sources.

This will provide water for thirsty pollinators.

And avoiding using pesticides in gardens because pesticides are harmful to pollinators.

So limiting their use in your own garden will prevent harm.

So now we are onto the summary of our learning today.

So most types of flowering plant species are pollinated by animals, including many we use as food sources such as apples, strawberries, and cucumbers.

Habitat loss and the use of pesticides can lead to declines in the number of pollinators.

And we can research ways to help pollinators using secondary sources of information.

Now, you have worked so hard today and you've really used your critical thinking and you've thought of ways that you can help pollinators and stop them from becoming extinct because we so desperately need them to survive.

Well done for today.