Off-the-shelf Masterclass: Mathematics of bees

About this Masterclass

Nature is full of remarkable mathematical patterns and clever designs, and honeybees are some of nature's most impressive engineers. Inside a hive, bees build honeycomb structures made from thousands of intricate hexagons. But why this shape, and what makes it so special?

In this session, students will uncover the fascinating mathematics behind honeycomb structures and discover how bees build efficient homes using geometry. Through hands-on investigations, they will explore tessellations and efficiency in different shapes, to work out why hexagons are so great for building hives. 

This workshop has been developed in collaboration with the Natural Curriculum. The Natural Curriculum provides grammar lessons, problem-solving maths activities and morning starters based on captivating clips from the BBC’s natural history archives. Developed by the Educational Recording Agency (ERA), the resources are aimed at pupils in Years 3, 4, 5, and 6. With an ERA Licence, your school can access all of the Natural Curriculum resources free of charge. The vast majority of educational institutions in the UK have an ERA Licence, but if you need to check, click here.

Length: 2 hours (see the session leader notes for ideas on how to shorten the Masterclass).

Note: Worksheets are provided in .docx format as well as pdf format, to enable adaptations. These should be opened in desktop versions of word processing software to preserve formatting and layout.

Resources needed

• 1 copy of Worksheet 1 and 2 per student
• Rulers, 1 per student
• Small counters (or jellybeans) for Worksheet 2
• Washing up liquid and water mix
• Paper plate (1 for demo, or 1 per student)
• Straws (1 for demo, or 1 per student)
• Playdoh
• Video clips available at www.naturalcurriculum.co.uk/ri-and-nc-masterclass/ri-mathematics-of-bees/ with an ERA licence.

• Paper and pencils

  Optional:

• Laptops, computers, or tablets with internet access, 1 per student ideally
• Polydron kits, one per group of four students
• 1 copy of Worksheet 3 and 4 per student – you may wish to laminate these to use them again.
• Calculators (for worksheet 4)