Plant-pollinator Interaction

Games and exercises

1. Interactive introduction
Interactive introduction part (20-25 min) 
– why we have such a diverse array of different coloured and shaped flowers? Participants can first brainstorm their own ideas. Next, teacher can go through following topics with the help of e.g. slide show: 
- Why flowering plants need to get pollinated? How they attract pollinators? 
​- How pollination benefits pollinators? 
- How pollinators sense the world and colours? 
- How humans are dependent on the ecosystem service provided by pollinators? 

2. Pollination game
Pollination game demonstrates how depending on the visual background and visual system of pollinators, selection favours differently coloured flowers across generations (20 min). 

3. Observations
Participants own observations with UV flashlights. Students can collect different kind of flowers from the wild and observe them with UV flashlights in darkened room. With UV flashlights students can see and observe patterns that are normally invisible for humans but visible for many pollinators that can see ultraviolet colours.

4. Pollinator’s daydream
In this exercise you make a collective flower with group, imagined through pollinators eyes. Each participant will get a big piece of paper or cardboard and liquid paints, basic or UV-reflective. Click here for instructions.
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