THE AMAZING WORLD OF ANTS

• http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/TOOLS/ANTKEY/biolmeta.html
• http://research.amnh.org/entomology/social_insects/ants/ant_colony_cycle.html

Introduction:  Have you ever looked closely at an ant?  On this web page, you will learn some fun facts about ants, from all around the world.

Ants usually live under the ground in groups called colonies.  Colonies of ants build tunnels and store food.  Ants guide themselves inside their tunnels by using two long antennae on their heads.  Some ants grow their own food.  They eat a special fungus, or mold, that they make from leaves.  Young ants, or larvae, hatch from cocoons. 

• http://www.antnest.co.uk/Nests.html
• http://www.junglephotos.com/animals/insects/ants.html

  A.    Students will be able to view and learn about their eating habits. ( http://www.antcam.com/info/faq/4.3.html)

  B.    Students will see where ants lives.

          1.    Anthills

          2.    Tunnels

  C.    Students will be able to create a visual representation through the labeling of ants:  http://www.antnest.co.uk/Anatomy.html

  D.    Students will construct a collage or venn diagram comparing the different types of ants.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

  CROSS-CURRICULAR CONNECTION

  Math

  Counting Legs- Ants have six legs. If there are five ants on a leaf, how many legs are there in all?  Use the numbers from the problem to write a multiplication sentence.

  (Bonus)-If three more ants climb onto the leaf, how many legs are there in all?

  Art

  Make ant prints- Here's a fun way to decorate a card or plain book cover. Press the eraser end of a pencil into black paint.  Print ant bodies on paper.  Then draw in the details with a fine -tip black pen.  If you want to make red ants, use red paint!

   

  Solve a Web Maze

  Help an ant find its way through a Web Maze and back to its colony. Print a maze from the Education Place, and then fill it in.

   

  Fun Activities

  http://expage.com/page/jonesants

   

  Science

  Scientist have shown that ants can lift up to 50 times their own weight.  Translating this to human scale, to match an ant's lifting ability, an 80 pound child would be able to lift an object weighing 4,000 pounds.

   

  Journal Writing

  Children can use their journal to record what they find most interesting or surprising about ants.

  Create rhyming poems about Ants

   

  LITERATURE DISCUSSION

  *    What are some amazing things about ants?

  *    Which of these sites seems most interesting to you, and why?

  *    In what ways are ants like people?

  *    What more do you want to learn about ants?

  What's for Dinner?

  *    What do ants eat?  How do they get their food?

  *    Make a list of three ways ants get their food.

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