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For educators

Activities by grade band

Everything on this site is free to use in class. Here it is arranged by age, with a suggested sequence, printables, and the science standards each activity touches. Built by two students who started this project in 5th and 6th grade.

🧒 Pre-K and kindergarten🎒 Grades 1 to 5🔬 Grades 6 to 12🌱 College and beyond📋 Field-trip sheets

🧒 Pre-K to kindergarten, ages 3 to 6

Pre-K and kindergarten

Ages 3 to 6, pre-readers and early readers, with an adult or older buddy.

Big idea: Plants feed animals. Some plants belong here and some do not.

  1. 1Read-aloud picture quiz →Native or Invasive in little-kids mode: two big buttons, a friendly voice, ten photos. Frame it as friend to bees or trouble.
  2. 2Feed the Bird →Tap the plant picture that feeds the bird. Eight rounds.
  3. 3Name That Song →Listen to a bird and tap its picture. Three choices, read aloud.
  4. 4Life Cycle in Order →Egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, butterfly. Do it as a class on a projector first.
  5. 5Color and talk →Coloring pages with one sentence each. Read the sentence together.
  6. 6Go outside →The Backyard bingo card with an adult reading the squares, or a visit to a planter.

🎒 Grades 1 to 5, ages 6 to 11

Grades 1 to 5

Ages 6 to 11. Readers who can work in pairs on a shared device.

Big idea: Every native plant has a job: it feeds a specific insect or bird. Invasive plants take up space without doing that job.

  1. 1Who Eats This? →Matching game, three rounds. Have pairs read each fact aloud when they match.
  2. 2Bee, Fly, Wasp, or Moth? →The mimic game. Great for the kid who is scared of every striped insect.
  3. 3Simple Bloom Builder →Four plants, keep a flower open all summer. Discuss why gaps matter.
  4. 4Bird ID Near You →Enter the school's zip code. Every bird in the quiz was seen nearby this month.
  5. 5Name That Song →Play a recording, pick the bird. Try it with eyes closed, then discuss what feature gave it away.
  6. 6Field Bingo at a planter →A card for each of our five installations, built from the plants growing there.
  7. 7Flashcards for review →The monarch life cycle and the planter plants decks.

🔬 Grades 6 to 12, ages 11 to 18

Grades 6 to 12

Ages 11 to 18. Real data, cause and effect, and argument from evidence.

Big idea: Ecosystems are networks. Removing or adding one species changes others several steps away, and the data to see it is public.

  1. 1Cascade Stories →Three choose-your-path stories: barberry and Lyme, ash borer and trout, tropical milkweed and migration. Pause at each decision for discussion.
  2. 2Investigate with the tools →Monarch Tracker: compare this year and last for your zip. Garden Calendar: why is this season running ahead or behind? Invasive Species: what has been reported within 10 km vs. 50 km, and why might that be?
  3. 3Who Got Here First? and Origin Stories →Most invasives were introduced on purpose. Discuss what people believed at the time.
  4. 4Myth or Fact, Over/Under →Quick formative checks with sources on every answer.
  5. 5Project brief: design a planting →Use the full Bloom Builder, the Native Plant Finder for the school's zip, and the planter bench guide to propose a real installation. Our own project started this way.
  6. 6Project brief: fund it →The student-funding guide covers youth grants, Eagle and Gold Award projects, and how to pitch a host site.

🌱 College and beyond

College and beyond

Undergraduates, master gardeners, land managers, and anyone planning a planting.

Big idea: The primary data is open. Use it.

  1. 1Species profiles with sources →Each of the 37 invasive and 45 native profiles ends with references.
  2. 2Raw data endpoints →JSON for every tool by zip code, and the full plant, invasive, life-stage, and seed datasets. Pull them into a spreadsheet or notebook.
  3. 3Seed saving and propagation →Species-level stratification and sowing data, with frost-date math for any zip.
  4. 4Replicate the project →The planter bench guide has real costs, dimensions, and a care sheet.

Visit a planter

Field-trip sheets

One printable page per installation: address and host, what is planted, a look-for checklist that changes with the month, a five-question student worksheet, and a QR code back to the planter page.

Open data

JSON endpoints

The same data the tools use, as JSON, for spreadsheets, notebooks, or student projects. No key needed. Please cache; upstream sources are community-run.

EndpointReturns
/api/zip/monarch?zip=11791&radius=25Monarch observations by month (this year and last), egg and larva counts, milkweed species nearby.
/api/zip/birds?zip=11791&radius=25Bird species reported in the last 30 days with counts and photos.
/api/zip/invasives?zip=11791&radius=25Watch-list invasives with nearby research-grade counts, current life stage, and status.
/api/zip/calendar?zip=11791Frost dates, 7-day forecast with soil temperature, growing-degree-day season offset.
/api/data/nativesThe 45-plant native database with traits, ranges, and zones.
/api/data/invasivesThe 37-species watch list with status, identification, and alternatives.
/api/data/lifestagesMonth-by-month life stages for 18 species.
/api/data/seedsSeed ripening, collection, and stratification data.

Zip endpoints accept `zip` (5 digits) and `radius` (10, 25, or 50 km). Responses include a `sources` field. Wildlife data is from iNaturalist contributors under Creative Commons licenses; weather from Open-Meteo.

Citation

How to cite this site

Ellis, A., & Ellis, B. (2026). Pollinate Happiness: native pollinator planters and tools for Long Island. Retrieved from https://www.pollinatehappiness.com

For a specific species profile, add the page title and URL. For tool results, add the zip code, radius, and the date you retrieved them, since they change daily. Underlying observations should be credited to iNaturalist and its contributors; weather data to Open-Meteo.

Questions, corrections, or a request for a grade-specific version of any activity: contact us.