Redbud Blooms in Red Haw State Park

This video shows Red Haw State Park covered in pink blossoms from the redbud trees.

Possible Guiding, Compelling and/or Anchoring Questions

• How do plants reproduce?
• Why is blooming necessary for pollination to occur?
• How is pollen transferred from one blossom to another? 
• What types of pollinators would be attracted to the redbud blossoms?

Classroom Suggestions

• As a class, discuss why trees have blossoms, ask students to recall any similar scenarios in the trees they may live by.
• Place students in pairs to draw what they think the individual blossoms of the redbud trees look like with labels.
• Have the pairs of students form groups of four to share and discuss their plant models.
• Conduct a flower dissection (or virtual) to identify the parts of a flower.
• Assign an article for students to read in pairs and learn about the parts of the plant and the pollination process.
• Ask the students to modify the first model they created of the parts of a flower.
• Provide pairs of students with a list of pollinators and plants with descriptions and ask the students to match up the flower with its appropriate pollinator.
• Have the students create a model of a plant with its reproductive parts explaining how it is pollinated.

Related Resources

• National Parks Service: Flower Dissection Lab: This is a document you can use when conducting an in-class flower dissection.
• Science Buddies: Flower Dissection STEM Activity: This is a video of a potential flower dissection lab teachers could show to their students or have them complete to investigate how the reproductive parts of a flower compare.
• Chicago Botanic Gardens: Pollinator Match-Up: This is a PDF resource providing a list of pollinators with descriptions, and a list of flowers with descriptions that allows students to match up which pollinators go with which flower.
• Flowering Plants: CK-12: This article explains the parts of a flowering plant and how they work together.