🐝 Build an Air Bee & Bee: Think Like an Eco-Entrepreneur!

Engage Students While Building Empathy and Entrepreneurial Skills

Welcome to the Air Bee & Bee Challenge, an ESTEAM® learning experience designed to spark divergent thinking and environmental empathy. This design challenge transforms your students into Eco-Engineers on a mission to solve the global pollinator shelter crisis.

How the Air Bee & Bee Challenge Encourages the Entrepreneurial Mindset

Students are inspired to use empathy to consider the bee’s needs. As they work, they’ll need to be creative, adaptable, and resourceful to build a hotel with recycled materials.

They’ll show persistence and grit and embrace failure when parts of their first designs don’t work as planned. Finally, they’ll show courage as they pitch their air bee & bee idea!

Ready to get started? Check out the materials list (feel free to add your own ideas from around your home or classroom):

Ideas for materials

• Cardboard (thin, cereal box style works best)

• Aluminum foil

• Scissors

• Tape

• Pipe cleaners

• Straws

• Clean Juice boxes

• Markers, colored pencils, or crayons

• Recycled Materials

Instructions

1. Using the materials you’ve collected, design and build a hotel for a bee who needs a place to stay in your garden! Consider the bee’s needs as you build. (That’s using empathy!) How can you make the hotel a good fit for the bees?

2. As you work, you might find yourself using your entrepreneurial mindsets and skills! Check out the VentureLab Entrepreneurial Mindsets and Skills poster, then write down how you used entrepreneurial mindsets and skills to build the best bee hotel.

3. When you’ve finished your bee hotel, pitch (share!) your design with an adult! Tell them about at least three features you’ve built into your bee hotel and the entrepreneurial mindsets and skills you used while building it.

4. BONUS: Want to inspire others to think like an entrepreneur? Have a trusted adult share photos of your bee hotel on social media using the hashtag #venturelab and/or by tagging VentureLab at:

Instagram: @ourventurelab

Facebook: @theVentureLab

Go Deeper With These Extensions

Botanical Engineering (1-5): Don’t just build the hotel; plant the “cafeteria”! Students research and plant a “Bee-Friendly Garden” with native wildflowers (like Lavender, Sunflowers, and Coneflowers) to provide essential food sources near their habitat.

Advanced Math & CAD (6-12): For middle and high schoolers, level up the design process. Students can use 3D modeling software (CAD) to create precise blueprints and use geometry to calculate the optimal angle for rain runoff on the roof.

Creative Writing & Branding (2-8): Have students write “Welcome Packets” for their B&B guests, detailing the local flower “restaurants” and safety rules. Or, create a complete Marketing Campaign, including print ads and a radio jingle (using standard pitch-writing formats).