In today’s task students learn that the rusty patched bumble bee population and range have severely declined making it eligible for the Endangered Species list in 2017. In this Daily Do, students use the practices of developing and using models and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information to learn more about this native pollinators’ ecosystem. They use the thinking tool of systems and system models to figure out how the components within this ecosystem interact and use this “systems thinking” to make predictions about what is changing in the ecosystem that could explain why rusty patched bumble bees are disappearing. 

View the Why are the rusty patched bumble bees disappearing? NGSS table to see the elements of the three dimensions targeted in this lesson.

Before you begin the task, you may want to access the accompanying Why are the rusty patched bumble bees disappearing? Google slide presentation. 

Introduce students to the plight of the rusty patched bumble bee using the first two minutes of the video, Gone but not Forgotten: The Rusty Patched Bumble Bee, found on Slide 2.  (Make sure to stop the video before the leading hypothesis for their decline is revealed.) Have students make a t-chart in their science notebooks or a sheet of paper to keep track of what they notice and wonder from the video. Have students share their observations with a partner.

Consider asking students to create tables to record data. As you move from group to group ask, “What types of data are you recording? How do you think these data might help us figure out why the rusty patched bumble bee is disappearing?” You may need to guide students to record the habitat (described under “Comments”) in addition to the flower type (“Floral host”) and date of sighting (“Date”). Ask each group to identify any patterns they see within their data and then ask each group to share those patterns with the class. Can they identify patterns between the state/region data sets as well?

Guidance: Some students may benefit from working with a partner while investigating the website. If more scaffolding is needed, consider providing a graphic organizer to gather needed information about the bees and their environment.

Patterns groups identify may include: 

• Most of the rusty patched bumble bee sightings occur in the Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota
• Some were found in prairies, restored prairies, and urban environments
• They were always photographed on or near flowers
• Some sightings were of males, some of females
• The sightings seem to happen in the summer months

Have students brainstorm ideas in small groups about what may be causing the decline in the rusty patched bumble bee population. Next, have students share their ideas during a whole group discussion. Some ideas that might surface include:  

• Decrease in the number of flowers the bees “need”/visit/pollinate
• Increase in the number of bumble bee predators/animals that eat bumble bees
• Loss of habitat (not just specific flowers)

Students should continue to add to their list of questions as they consider the patterns the class identified and listen to their classmates share ideas about why the rusty patched bumble bee population has declined. Explain to students that scientists conduct investigations to gather data to use as evidence to answer questions they have about a phenomenon, like the decline in the rusty patched bumble bee population. Have students work in small groups to determine the most productive questions to help figure out what is happening to the rusty patched bumble bees. Then, ask the groups to share their questions with the class. Students' questions may include: 

• What is causing the rusty patched bumble bee population to decline?
• Why are the rusty patched bumble bees mostly found in the Great Lakes region?
• Do they only visit certain kinds of flowers? 
• How do they find the flowers/right kind of flowers? 
• Why do all of the sightings happen in the summer?/Where do the bees go in winter?
• What do rusty patched bumble bees need to survive?

Point out that many of students' questions from their t-charts are related to what the rusty patched bumble bee needs to survive and that learning more about these needs may help us figure out why their population is declining.

Guidance: Through the use of the video clip and the exploration of Bumble Bee Watch students will learn a little bit about the rusty patched bumble bee. By generating questions they will realize there is a lot more to learn. Having students generate the questions about the phenomenon creates a motivation and need to engage in investigations in order to develop a deeper understanding of the species and figure out the cause of their decline. 

Use students' questions to begin exploring what the rusty patched bumble bee needs to survive. Ask students to make a list of what living things need to survive. Students will likely say

• Water
• Food
• Shelter
• Able to reproduce
• Able to avoid predators

Using Slide 5, introduce students to the concept of systems. In small groups, and then with the whole group, have students discuss how the term system and ecosystem are related. Use students’ ideas to build the understanding that a place where a living thing is found is a system that contains all of the components it needs to survive. We call this an ecosystem. Tell students that in order to get an idea of what may be causing the decline of the population, it would be helpful to learn more about the specific components in the rusty patched bumble bees’ ecosystem.

Introduce the article “All About the Rusty Patched Bumble Bee,” and tell students it will help us figure out the components in the rusty patched bumble bees’ ecosystem. As students read, have them make individual lists of the specific components the rusty patched bumble bee needs to survive. If students need additional scaffolds for reading, consider utilizing a close read strategy or break the article into sections and read in small groups.

In small groups have students compare the components that they found in the reading and share how the components interact with the rusty patched bumble bee. Have them combine their lists ensuring that all of the components on their group list interact with the rusty patched bumblebee.

Begin developing a class model that represents how all of the components in the rusty patched bumble bee’s ecosystem interact by creating a class list of components in the ecosystem. To do this, have groups take turns sharing the components from their groups’ list and describing how they interact with the rusty patched bumble bee. Ensure that the whole class agrees the component is part of the ecosystem. Once the list is complete, take time to reflect with students that the list consists of both living and nonliving components in the ecosystem.

Tell students that in order to get a better idea of what may be causing the decline of the population, it would be helpful to develop a model that shows all of the components in the ecosystem and how they interact. Discuss with the class how to represent the interaction of all of these components with each other and the rusty patched bumble bee. Use this discussion to create a class model.

Guidance: Developing and using models has applications in all disciplines of science. The task of developing an ecosystem model gives students practice in recognizing that systems are made up of interacting components. A model of a system allows us to communicate how it functions and make predictions about how changes will affect the components in the system.

Using the components and interactions represented in the class model, have students individually brainstorm possible causes of the decline of the rusty patched bumble bee population. Put students in small groups and explain that they should share and discuss their individual brainstormed list and present one claim per group about what is causing the decline in the rusty patched bumble bee population. Tell students that they will present their claims in a gallery walk. As they prepare their claim, students should use the class model to explain how the predicted change in components and/or interactions could cause the rusty patched bumble bee population to decline.

As students participate in the gallery walk, have them use sticky notes to ask questions and add comments to other groups’ claims. After students have had an opportunity to examine other groups' claims, ask the class what they noticed about the claims. Were there any similarities? What were the differences? Return to students’ questions to determine what questions have been answered and if there are additional questions they could explore to figure out the cause(s) of the decline of the rusty patched bumble bee.

Further Exploration

• Students can watch the remainder of “Gone but Not Forgotten, The rusty patched bumble bee” to learn that some scientists think the introduction to pathogens may be the cause of the population decline. 
• Students can watch “A Ghost in the Making: Searching for the Rusty-patched Bumble Bee” 
• Students can identify patterns over time in the temperature and precipitation of the region where the rusty patched bumble bee is found using the NOAA database. They can use these patterns and their models to predict how these changes would impact the rusty patched bumble bees.
• Students can use USGS data to figure out how the use of pesticides have changed over time and use their models to predict how these changes would impact the rusty patched bumble bee. 
• Students can identify probable bumble bee habitats near their homes and see if they can observe bumble bees. They can take pictures and using the Bumble Bee Watch app or website help scientists study these pollinators. 
• Students can learn more about the needs of their local pollinators and plant native species to support these populations.