Science as a Human Endeavour : Scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to solve problems that directly affect people's lives

Honey bees wearing backpacks?

Photo from http://www.csiro.au/en/News/News-releases/2014/Bee-sensors-take-flight-to-help-farmers

Australian Curriculum: Science as a Human Endeavour
*Nature and development of science
Science involves testing predictions by gathering data and using evidence to develop explanations of events and phenomena 
*Use and influence of science
Scientific understandings, discoveries and inventions are used to solve problems that directly affect people's lives

Global Initiative for Honey bee Health: How do the bee's backpacks work? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfkNFo-Hysc
The Global Initiative for Honey bee Health (GIHH), led by CSIRO, aims to protect and improve the health of honey bees.

What do you notice? View the videos of the bee’s backpacks.
What is interesting/unexpected/unexplained?
What technology are the CSIRO scientists using to help them make their observations of the honeybees? 

What does it make you think? What questions do you have? What questions would you like to ask the scientists?
How is the data collected using this technology? What kinds of data are the scientists collecting? How often will the observations be made?

What patterns and/or relationships do you see in the data? Are there any anomalies?
How might this technology contribute to our understanding of science and the health of honey bees?

How did someone come up with this idea?
How might scientists measure and record the data? How might you ensure the data is reliable, representative?

What is your hypothesis? What do you think is causing the decrease in the number of honey bees in the world? How might your hypothesis differ from that of a scientist?

Why is collaboration between scientists important for this investigation? Where do you find connections across the disciplines of science, maths and technology? What new developments might this lead to? Or new careers? Who decides what is valued to investigate? Who decides how the science is used? Who might benefit? What is the ‘cost’? How will solving this problem be a direct benefit to your life?

What if all the bees die? AsapScience video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JilYBVrFiLA

Why are bees disappearing? Ted Talk 

http://www.ted.com/talks/marla_spivak_why_bees_are_disappearing?language=en

A plea for bees. Ted Talk

http://www.ted.com/talks/dennis_vanengelsdorp_a_plea_for_bees?language=en