Friday, May 14, 2010 from 8:30 AM - 3:30 PM (PT)
Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

This training pilot is open to Sweetwater Union High School District teachers only.

Bee Anatomy and Dissection

Understanding the physical characterisitics of an organism can be invaluable when learning about it's role in the environment. Comparing the anatomy of two closely related species can give insight into concepts beyond the organisms' ecological roles as well: topics such as divergent evolution, competition, classification, and fitness can all be broached based on the comparision of physical attributes.

In this activity, students are given the opportunity to explore the physical adaptations of two different groups of bees (honeybees and bumblebees). First through an external examination, and later a full dissection, students will see how small physical changes make large differences in how an organism fits into its environment.