| Hawai'i Bee Rescue Project |
Seven native bee species found only in Hawai'i were added to the U.S. Endangered Species List in October 2016. This is alarming news to us here at the Food Ingredient and Health Research Institute (FIHRI) because we see the need for a locally produced food supply in Hawai'i that is contaminant free and largely unprocessed. Without a safe and healthy food supply, the people of Hawai'i will continue down the path of increasing western disease (Type-2 Diabetes, Autism, ADHD, Cardiovascular Heart Disease, etc..). Bees perform the important job of pollination and they must be available in appropriate numbers to grow food native crops. If our bees go extinct, we will be unable to achieve the goal of Hawaiian Food Sovereignty. We must rescue our bee populations from extinction!!
What are we doing here at FIHRI? We developed curriculum for use in Hawai'i schools so teachers may easily teach our Keiki about the native bee problem and what we can do to rescue the bees. Dr. Dufault, a licensed science and special education teacher in Hawai'i tested our bee curriculum successfully at Ka'u High and Pahala Elementary School. The curriculum for grades 7-12 is provided on this webpage and freely downloadable. It is based on current local and international news stories. There is a reading guide (worksheet) that goes with each article. Each article topic studied by the Ka'u students was of interest from a local and cultural standpoint and related to the learning goals set forth in the Hawai'i Content and Performance Standards.
|
| Curriculum News Articles (with links)
Kennedy, M. (2016, October 3). Bees added to U.S. endangered species list for 1st time. National Public Radio.
Kelland, K. (2018, February 28). Pesticides put bees at risk, European watchdog confirms. Reuters News.
Johns Hopkins Medicine. High fructose corn syrup is bad for bees. Originally published in Scientific American.
Harvey, C. (2015, May 26). Why you shouldn't freak out about swarming honeybees - and how to save bees from those who do. Washington Post.
NOTE: Reading guides for each article are provided at the bottom of this web page. Reading guides help struggling readers comprehend what they read.
|
Films
(2009). Vanishing of the Bees. 1 hour 27 minutes. Amazon streaming or Film Producer
(1998). Bees: Living for the Queen. 49 minutes. Amazon streaming
|
Guest Speaker Suggestion for Big Island
Bee Boys. Kevin O'Connor. Email: kevin@beeboys.org
Bee Boys Farm
|
|
