Citizen Scientists: AP Bio Students Plant Pollinators in the Academic Courtyard

On their last day of class, AP Biology students planted cover crop and giant sunflowers in the the raised beds in the Academic Courtyard . Having started the sunflower seeds in the classroom about 14 days before transferring the seedlings outside. The sunflowers are the Lemon Queen variety, Helianthus annus , an annual that will grow to be 5 to 7 feet tall and attracts bees butterflies and other pollinators who will gather both nectar (carbohydrates) and pollen (protein) from the yellow flowers. The hope is to then have GA students become citizen scientists by participating in The Great Sunflower Project, which involves making pollinator counts and reporting them to become part of a large data base, which  includes both US and Canadian pollinator counts.  The students also planted a ‘cover crop’ of peas, Pisum sativum and Oats, Avena sativ,a which will help condition the soil and attract bees and other beneficial insects.