Blueberry BluesA Case Study and Collection by

Jilly Buerck

Amy Kimbrell

&

Sarah Schubert

OUTLINE

A. Sam’s Story

B. Howard’s Story

1. Geologic Time/Coevolution

2. Bye-Bye Bees

C. Betsey’s Story

1. BeeVisit

2. Why the Sneeze?

3. Pollen Viewer

4. Flower Parts

5. Pollen Collection

Blueberry blues: Part a Sam is a truck driver for Kimbrell Distribution and one day

he was driving north on I-70 to his destination of Maine to assist farmers with their blueberry crop. He was drinking lots of coffee as it was 5:00 A.M. on an April morning and had just started his journey. As he was driving, he noticed the traffic slowing as he neared St. Louis and wondered to himself, “Is there a wreck ahead?” Knowing he was on a strict schedule, he began to wonder if he could make a short cut by driving on the shoulder of I-70 to

the nearest off ramp to take a different route.

Sam made the difficult and dangerous decision to

drive on the interstate shoulder, but it became a bad

decision very quickly. As he drove his 18-wheeler on the shoulder, he soon realized he did not have enough room.

Blueberry blues

“I’m not going to make it” he whispered to himself and as if he could see the future, his 18-wheeler began to wobble on the loose gravel on the shoulder. He slammed on his brakes, which did not help the situation. His truck tipped over and the back doors sprang open scattering his cargo. He realized then that his cargo was on the move.

Luckily, Sam was wearing his seat belt and got out safely only to be devastated by the scene before him….

Blueberry blues questions: part a

1. Speculate what Sam’s cargo is.

2. How might his cargo be helpful to a blueberry farmer?

3. What are the clues that helped you make your speculation?

4. What do you know about blueberries?

Blueberry blues: part b

Howard woke up to the ringing of the telephone. “Can you come and help us out?” cried an agitated voice. “We are at the scene of an accident and your expertise is needed”

Howard raced to the closet and put on his loosely fitting white body suit that covered him from head to toe. He finished dressing by putting on his mesh face cover so that no skin was exposed. He grabbed his stainless steel smoker that was needed to calm the cargo and headed

out the door to the scene.

1. Re-evaluate the previous questions

 

Blueberry blues: part Bcontinued

Howard the beekeeper arrived at the scene of the accident about 45 minutes later. Already on the scene were some policemen and firemen that closed down the Interstate.

“Thanks for coming”, said Officer Donaldson.”The bees are everywhere. The truck was carrying the bees to Maine to help with the blueberry crop”

Howard assessed the situation and realized he had his work cut out for him.

• 1. What is the connection between bees and

blueberries?

2. Why are they transporting bees to Maine? Why

don’t they use their own local bees in Maine?

3. What is the purpose of the bee smoker?•  

Blueberry blues: Part cAfter catching his breath from the startling morning, Sam decided he needed to call Betsey Lou, the blueberry farmer, to inform her of the accident. After talking to Sam, Betsey Lou sat down at the kitchen table perplexed with her dilemma knowing the truck load of bees she needed for pollination of her blueberries may not arrive in time. She knew that the other pollinators already in the area were not as effective as the honey bees, so she became very nervous. “Achoo” she sneezed “that darn Ambrosia artemisiifolia ”

  1. What is making Betsey Lou sneeze?

2. What types of things make you sneeze?

3. Why are the honey bees better pollinators for blueberries?

4. What is pollen?

5. Describe the process of pollination

6. Does every plant produce pollen at the same time?

7. How can Betsey be certain she is sneezing because of Ambrosia?

resources• Cartwright, Steve. “Missing bees could affect pollinating

season for crops”, http://morningsentinel.maintoday.com/newss/local/3862972.html accessed June 17, 2008.

• Nielsen, John. “Declining Bee Population Threatens Major Growers”, October 18, 2006. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6299480 accessed June 17, 2008.

• Pollen diagram http://www.netvibes.com/ssdonova#Background accessed June 18, 2008.

Future direction/ideas

• Students/Teacher could find Data concerning bee populations that allows students to graph

• Students can write a conclusion to the Blueberry Blues story with what they have learned about pollination and bees.

• Interview the following:

Beekeeper

Allergist

Merterologist

Farmer

Paleontologist