Using NewsHour Extra Worksheets

Overview: NewsHour Extra worksheets can help students follow along and identify key points in NewsHour science broadcast pieces.

Warm Up: Introduce the topic of the broadcast piece and find out how much your students know.

Main Activity: Hand out the worksheet and have students answer the questions as they watch the NewsHour segment.

Need a DVD of the science segment?: Write to science@newshour.org.

Story: Missing Bees Puzzle Scientists, 4/3/07
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/jan-june07/bees_04-03.html

Worksheet Questions: (click here for printout)

1. Name one California crop that is completely dependent on bees for pollination.

Almonds.

2. What is the name given to the recent nationwide problem of bees disappearing from hives?

Colony Collapse Disorder.

3. How is a honeybee society organized? How many queens, males and females are in a colony?

One queen, several thousand workers who are females, and several hundred drones who are males.

4. What are some of the suspected possible causes of the honeybee die-off?

Weather and drought, pesticides, mites, unknown pathogens.

5. Name one thing scientists are doing to try to solve the honeybee disappearance mystery.

One scientist is working on a device that will allow researchers to listen to what's happening in the hives, alerting them to trouble. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is collecting bee samples from around the country and testing for mites.

For more NewsHour Science Reports, go to www.pbs.org/newshour/science.

For more science lesson plans and worksheets, go to www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/science.