The Ants Go Marching Two by Two...

While our Geography/History classes are about to get a lot more regular, our science units are as all over the board as ever. We've learned about worms, frogs, eagles, and bees. We've looked at the Earth, and saving the planet, as well as studied national parks. We've learned about earthquakes, volcanoes, and geysers, about Yellowstone wildlife and the concept of extinction. We've learned about varying flowers and trees. And now we're back to bugs again. There is just something about studying things the kids can get hands on experience with that I simply cannot resist. So, Santa brought the kids an ant farm and we decided to learn all about ants. It has been a blast. A brief overview of our ant unit is as follows:

Day 1: Intro to the ants. We started the day our ants arrived in the mail. This day we set up our ant farm and went to the library to get ant books. We also had a family movie night and watched A Bug's Life.

Day 2: The types of ants: queen, males, and workers, and the life cycle of an ant from egg:larva:pupa:adult ant. We also talked a little about the different jobs that worker ants can have. It's quite amazing how intricate their family systems are. Some ants take care of the eggs or larva, some dig, some get food, some watch the queen. Most people probably knew this stuff, but did you know some ants are in charge of the pet aphids. They kidnap aphids and bring them into their tunnels because the aphids make a sweet nectar that will be released if the ants pet them. Some ants are also in charge of the pet crickets. They also kidnap baby crickets and raise them in their tunnels because they like the music they make. Amazing.

After reading one of our library books on all of the jobs of worker ants, I went around and asked each child what kind of worker they would like to be. Emma wanted to take care of the baby ants in the nursery. Maddi wanted to be the queen. (of course) And Spencer, well Spencer's answer about made me wet my pants it was so funny. He thought for a minute, and then replied, "I don't want to be a worker ant, I want to be a dier ant." "A dier ant?" I said, not having any idea what a dier ant was. "Yeah," he replied. "A Dier ant. I don't want to do any of the work. I just want to mate with the queen and die!" Well, at least he was listening when we read about the jobs of the male ants. They do only live for two to three days. Once they reach adulthood they fly out of the nest, mate with a new queen, and die. Apparently that life sounds pretty good to little Spence.

Day 3: The body of an ant-with extra attention on the three parts of an insect and the ants' exoskeleton. We took some of the ants out of our farm today and studied them in glass jars with magnifying glasses. These little creatures are really so interesting. I find myself staring into their little glass container more than I ever thought I would. Their life is so orderly. Watching them is soothing to me in a weird sort of way, kind of like some people calm down by watching fish.

Day 4: Constructing our own ants to reinforce what we learned on day 3. Tonight we watched Honey I Shrunk the Kids. If you remember, they get a pet ant while they're tiny. This was a great show to get a better look at an ant's body.





Day 5: Ant's antennas. We talked all about what they use them for, and did our own antenna experiments. (In other words, identifying things by our sense of smell.)

Day 6: Other ant experiments including what ants like to eat, how much they can carry, etc.

Day 7: Ant Colonies and Ant Hills.

Day 8: Constructing our own ant nest to reinforce what we learned on day 7.





Day 9: Different kinds of ants, including all of the varieties of Killer Ants. (Spencer loved the killer ants' war strategies!)

Day 10: Ant predators.

Day 11: Visit the Children's Museum Ant Exhibit and pretend to be ants!