Teach your kids about bees with the educational version of the award-winning film Vanishing of the Bees. We’re offering it at a bargain whenever you make a pledge!
The educational version of the film comes with the full length feature film (87 minutes), a 34 minute version, and a 13-page study guide that meets all the national standards. It was co-written by education writer Leslie Comnes, who wrote the study guide for the well known documentary Food Inc.
This guide offers discussion questions, activity ideas, concept standards, and resources to help you use the film with your students. It is geared for students in Grades 4-10 and may be used in science, environmental science, agricultural education, or social science classes to introduce or enhance study on topics ranging from current environmental issues to plant science to food security to regulatory policy.
My award winning film Vanishing of the Bees, narrated by Oscar nominated actress Ellen Page, was accepted to the prestigious Milano Film Festival. They will be hosting a special screening of the film on September 30th, as the theme this year is Feeding The Planet.
The film festival will be covering two nights of hotel so since they cannot pay for my flights, I have put together a crowdfunding funding campaign and in exchange, I am offering the educational version of the film worth $59 with a pledge of only $20. Teach your kids about the bees!
Spread The Buzz Amongst Our Youth
Typically a documentary film has a short shelf life. However, I tell people that the film is still alive because unfortunately honeybees are still dying, due in large part because of systemic pesticides.
It was very important for my co director George Langworthy and I to spread the buzz amongst our youth as they are the future stewards of our earth. We spent five years making this film in order to be in service to the planet. We collected 300 hours of footage, which we condensed into 87 minutes. Please take a moment to realize what a feat this is! We then cut a 34 minutes to teach kids about bees!
The film examines the issue of Colony Collapse Disorder, which has caused startling numbers of honeybees to disappear in recent years. The film also explores the consequences for humans and our environment, and offers possible solutions.
Honeybees live together in hives and collect flower pollen for food, and in doing so play a crucial role in pollinating crops. In fact, honeybees are essential for the production of a third or more of the food we eat. In 2006, U.S. beekeepers began reporting that astounding numbers of their honeybees had gone missing. They had literally disappeared, with no dead bees to be found and no obvious cause.
In 2007, U.S. scientists formed a task force to study the phenomenon; they identified its distinct symptoms and named it “Colony Collapse Disorder.” While searching for the cause of the disorder, scientists investigated specific pathogens and diseases, including the varroa mite; a fungal bacterium called Nosema cerannae; Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus; and even cell phone use. When none of these appeared to be the root cause, they began to look at how farming practices might be affecting honeybees.
In the past, American farmers grew a variety of crops and animals on their farms, and often kept bees for pollination. Today, however, most U.S. crops are grown in monocultures, with a single crop grown over hundreds or even thousands of acres.
These monocultures require pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides to thrive, and also depend on bees being brought in for pollination. Commercial beekeepers typically have thousands of hives, which they truck from crop to crop, releasing honeybees to pollinate the fields.
We know today that Colony Collapse Disorder is caused because of systemic pesticides, which are enrobed on seeds or entrenched in the soil. They enter plants through their roots, and persist in the leaves, nectar, and pollen. Systemic pesticides are designed to inflict sub-lethal damage to pests, such as weakening the immune system and impairing memory. In France studies showed they caused honeybees to become disoriented and unable to collect pollen. Once they were banned, the bees bounced back.
These pesticides, which are 5,000 to 10,000 more potent than DEET, are still being used in the United States and many other countries. They are the number one most popular pesticide. They are inflicting damage on bees, other pollinators, birds and human beings.
I will send you a version of this film in exchange for your support. You can show it to your kids, teach it to your students or donate it to a school or church. That way I am offering something in return and you are helping me spread the buzz about the bees.
Thank you. Let’s bee the change we want to see in the world.
Watch the Trailer:
