Lesson 3: How do honey bees heat the hive?

Lesson 3 explores the influence of the environment on animal behavior and how collective behaviors can modify the environment. In this lesson, students explore how a specific environmental factor, temperature, influences bee behavior. Additionally, they will consider how the concept of homeostasis can be applied to multiple levels of biological organization and how group behavior can be used to modify the environment. Students design and carry out an investigation using a NetLogo honey bee simulation. From the simulation and a reading activity that follows, they collect and organize data and use it to support a scientific claim that addresses the driving question for the unit. By the end of this lesson, students synthesize the concepts of genetic and environmental influences on behavior, and they understand how these two influences interact.