1. Summer bees and nanoparticles
Cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles are sometimes used as a fuel catalyst. They can get into plants and insects such as bees.
Scientists in Slovenia gave summer bees CeO2 and found that it had an effect on two enzymes. The bees’ behaviour also changed. They became hyperactive and agitated.
Scientists already thought that pesticides negatively affected bees. This research suggests that fuel catalysts such as CeO2 could also be responsible for declines in honeybee populations worldwide.
This slide summarises a recent article published by Chemistry World. Use this slide as a lesson starter.
Image credit: Leonid Eremeychuk / iStock / Getty Images Plus
Read the full article at rsc.li/2A2wrpn, published 24 November 2017

2. Summer bees and nanoparticles
Cerium oxide (CeO2) nanoparticles are sometimes used as a fuel catalyst. They can get into plants and insects such as bees.
Scientists in Slovenia gave summer bees CeO2 and found that it had an effect on two enzymes. The bees’ behaviour also changed. They became hyperactive and agitated.
Scientists already thought that pesticides negatively affected bees. This research suggests that fuel catalysts such as CeO2 could also be responsible for declines in honeybee populations worldwide.
Read the full article at rsc.li/2A2wrpn, published 24 November 2017
This slide summarises a recent article published by Chemistry World. Use this slide as a lesson starter. It also contains questions which can be used to engage pupils.
Image credit: Leonid Eremeychuk / iStock / Getty Images Plus
A molecule on the nanoscale ie x 10–9 m
A biological catalyst, for example amylase which breaks down starch into glucose in human saliva. Catalysts increase a reaction’s rate
Honeybees are pollinators for flowers and crops. Fewer bees could reduce human food supply, leading to increased prices and reduced political/economic stability
Should: bees could transmit the particles into our food; we could get CeO2 from the many fuels around us; it makes bees agitated, rather than relaxed, and it might do the same to humans
4. Shouldn’t: the dose would have to be massive to affect humans; humans have very diverse sources of food, bees don’t; the article is not about the transmission of CeO2 to other organisms; the original article suggests that nanoparticles remain in digestive systems;
What is meant by the term ‘nanoparticle’?
What is an enzyme? Give an example.
Why is a decline in honeybee populations a bad thing?
Think of three reasons why we should, and three reasons why we shouldn’t, be worried about CeO2 affecting human behaviour.