| Explore | So far in our exploration we have looked at the flowers provided for us outside. We have observed their shapes, sizes, colors and scents and are trying to determine how those said factors may affect the amount of pollinators that are attracted to them. We have seen a spider on the mums, and evidence of caterpillars on a cabbage plant. We have also conducted research online and found the following information. Colors: Bright colors are helpful for attracting pollinators. Certain pollinators are attracted to specific colors more than others. This means the color of a flower can affect the amount and kind of pollinators that come to the flower. Scent: Scent works very similarly to colors. Certain scents attract certain pollinators (butterflies like sweet smelling flowers etc.) So a flower can once again specify the pollinator that comes to it. Shape: Flowers with different shapes can affect pollinators. For example, hummingbirds are attracted to long cone shaped flowers because of their long beak. |
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| Research Question | How do different factors in a plant contribute to the type of pollinators that visit it? |
| Predictions | The possible outcomes of our study will be that we get a better understanding of how pollinators are attracted to plants. |
| Experimental Design | Over the course of several days, we will go outside and observe the flowers provided. We will record what pollinators and other insects we see on the plants. We will also conduct research online to add to our research. We will focus on a specific factor such as "do red flowers attract more pollinators than yellow flowers". |
| Conclusion | Overall, plants attract pollinators by appealing to their scent and sight. Plants use their bright colors to hook the pollinators in, and plants create a scent to keep pollinators pollinating. Form our data collected we can see that pollinators are attracted to brighter colors of flowers. For example, from the flowers that we had, we saw that the most pollinated flower was the coneflower. The reason for this is because the coneflower is bright yellow and its pollen is very noticeable. So pollinators are definitely attracted more to the more colorful and more noticeable plant. I think that some future experiments that could be done are maybe tests on what pollinators go for what plant and why those pollinators go for those specific plants. |
| Investigation Theme | POL |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| School Name | Hopewell Valley Central High School |
| Session | Fall 2018 |