Ants Day 3 -Ant Jobs

Ant Jobs

Discuss: There are three main ant jobs; queen ant, worker ants, and male ants.

Queen Ant- Queen ant lays all the eggs and she is the mother of all the ants in the nest. All queens start out with wings. All have large abdomen's to produce eggs. Some can lay millions of eggs per year.

Male Ants- All males have wings and do no work in the colony. They can be seen for only a few weeks in the summer while they mate with the queen.

Worker Ants- All workers are female, but they do not lay eggs. Females are the smallest ants, they do all the chores: clean the nest, gather food, take care of the babies and defend the colony. Some species such as carpenter ants and fire ants have several sizes of workers; the larger workers have different job duties than the smaller workers.

Worker Jobs- Workers have many different jobs to do. They begin their work by cleaning themselves. A couple days later they start sharing food and licking each other. Here are a some of the different jobs done by the worker ants.

Queen Tender- Young ants help the queen deliver her eggs by grabbing the eggs with their mandibles.

Nurse Ant- Young ants lick larvae so they do not dry out, and feed them so they grow.

Tunnel Diggers- Young ants dig tunnels and new chambers to store eggs and larvae and food.

Guard- These ants stand near the entrance of the nest, blocking strange ants from entering.

Foragers- The oldest ants search for food. Most foragers search within 50 feet of the nest, but if food is scarce, they may travel thousands of feet.

Read: Ant Colony by Kathy Furgang

Comprehension Questions:

1. What are the three types of ants? Queen ant, male ants, worker ants
2. What does the queen ant do? Lay the eggs
3. What do the worker ants do? Take care of baby ants, dig tunnels, guard nest an forage for food

Things I Can Remember

We used the Things I Can Remember to Do Without Being Told ant writing paper for this activity.  We talked about how ants just know what to do, there is no one ant in charge.  Then we talked about what J could do without being told.

Aesop's Fable: The Ant and The Grasshopper

Discuss:

In Bible times and pioneer days, almost every family had to plant a garden in the spring in order to have enough food for the next winter. Ants also work to prepare for future needs, gathering and storing food in warm weather, before winter comes.

It [the ant] has no commander, no overseer or ruler, the ant stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. (Proverbs 6:7)

Ants, known for being hard workers, are commended by God for their initiative. Ants have no leader—no commander to direct them, no overseer to inspect their work, no ruler to prod them on. People should learn from the ant and not act only when commanded.

Read: The Ant and the Grasshopper by Mark White

Comprehension Questions:
• Who are the two characters in the story?
• Why is the Ant working so hard?
• Why is the grasshopper telling him to stop?
• When winter comes what is the grasshopper’s problem?
• How does he solve his problem?
• What lesson does he learn from this experience?

Directions:

We used page 41 of this download for our Aesop's Fable story.

Picnic Ant Place Mat

Read: Ants at the Picnic by Michael Dahl

Discuss:

1. Fun Facts on page 24 of Ants at the Picnic by Michael Dahl
2. Find the Numbers on page 24 of Ants at the Picnic by Michael Dahl
3. 3.  Get your bag of tiny ants and estimate how many ants you have. Then counting ants by 10's pull out a large quantity of plastic ants. Children take a handful of plastic ants and place them in groups of tens on the placemat, then record the number of ants.
   
   

Materials:

• Red and White Construction Paper
• Black Paint
• Black Marker
• Clear Con-Tact Paper
• Scissors

Instructions:
1. Fold the white paper in half and cut lines from the folded side to the other side (but stop cutting about an inch from the side). Cut lines about an inch apart.

2. Weave the red strips through the white strips of paper by going over the first piece then under the next piece and so on, alternating the rows. Keep the red pieces as close together as possible. 

                                                  

3. Continue weaving your paper pieces until you have used all the red pieces of paper or until all of the white strips are full.

4. Add a couple of ants to your picnic place mat by dipping a fingertip into black paint and making three overlapping fingerprints to form an ant's body. 

                                     

5. Let the paint dry and then use the black marker to draw on six legs and antennae.

6. Finish the place mat by cutting two pieces of clear Con-Tact paper so they are at least and in larger all around than your place mat. Pull the paper backing off of one piece of cut Con-Tact paper. Carefully lay this piece, sticky side down, on top of your place mat. Smooth out all air bubbles as you lay it down. Now, flip over your place mat and cover the backside. Trim the edges of the Con-Tact paper about half an inch bigger than the place mat. Your picnic place mat is now ready to use!

Then we had a picnic lunch!

Proverbs 6:6

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! (Proverbs 6:6)

• Who wrote this verse? King Solomon
• What does it mean? to be a hard worker like the ant
• Does God want us to walk on all fours like ants do? no
• What can we learn from ants? to work hard with no one telling us what to do

Physical traits describe someone’s appearance (tall, skinny, blue-eyed, curly-haired, petite, etc.). Character traits describe someone’s personality (brave, stubborn, hard worker, polite, shy, etc.). What do you think God wants us to learn about ants? Physical traits or character traits?

 Directions:  We used our Bible and page 26 from this download for our Proverbs 6:6 Bible verse.

Ants Day 2 -Ant Life Cycle

Ant Life Cycle

Discuss: Life Cycle:

Egg - queen ants lay tiny oval shaped eggs

Larva - worm like larva keep growing causing their skin to shed; they don't have eyes or legs

Pupa - once the larva reaches a certain size, it spins a cocoon and pupates; during the time in the cocoon, the ant's body changes to adult form

Adult - the pupa emerges out of the cocoon into an adult nt

A worker ant generally lives about four years. However, the queen can live up to 10 or 20 years!

Read: The Life Cycle of an Ant by Trevor terry & Margaret Linton

Comprehension Questions:

1. What are the four stages of the ant life cycle? Egg, larva, pupa, adult
2. Who lays the eggs? Queen ant
3. What is an ant larva like? Don't have eyes or legs
4. What happens in the pupa stage? Ant larva spins a cocoon to change to an adult

Ant Life Cycle Activity
Discuss:  The life cycle of the ant consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Fertilized eggs produce female ants (queens, workers, or soldiers); unfertilized eggs produce male ants.

EGG- Ant eggs are oval shaped and tiny (they are on the order of 1 mm long, but the queen's egg is many times larger).

LARVA- The worm-like larvae have no eyes and no legs; they eat food fed to them by adult ants. The larvae molt (shed their skin) many times as they increase in size.

PUPA- After reaching a certain size, the larva spins a silk-like cocoon around itself and pupates. During this time the body metamorphoses (changes) into its adult form.

ADULT The pupa emerges as an adult. The entire life cycle usually lasts from 6 to 10 weeks. Some queens can live over 15 years, and some workers can live for up to 7 years.

Directions:  We used the Ant Life Cycle print out for a review.

The Ant Year: A Year in the Life of an Ant

April – open nest

May – time to mate and lay eggs

June – larvae grows and grows

August – work, work, work

November through March – hibernation

We made a book on page 35 of this download for our A Year in the Life of an Ant activity.

Ants Go Marching in a Number Line

Materials:

• A die labeled with +1, +2, +3, -1, -2, -3
• Little plastic ants
• A number line that goes as high as you need

Directions:

1. Each player puts their counter at the beginning of the number line at 0
2. The players take turns rolling the die/cube and moving their counter along the number line by the number rolled on the die/cube. (Player says the number square he is on and then says +3 if that is what he rolls and says the answer.) If a player lands in the same box as another player, the other player goes back a space.
3. The first player to reach the end of the number line wins!

Ants Day 1 -Ant Anatomy

Ant Anatomy

Discuss: Ants are usually 2-7mm long. Ants, like all insects, have 6 jointed legs, three body parts (the head, thorax and abdomen), a pair of antennae, and a hard exoskeleton. The exoskeleton is made up of a material that is like our fingernails. Ants can be many colors from yellow to brown to red to black.

HEAD

Feelers or Antennae - to touch and smell with

Mandibles (jaws) - to carry, dig, defend and eat with

Compound eyes -to see many of the same thing with

Brain - to process with (ants have the largest brain among all insects)

THORAX (OR TRUNK)

6 legs - with a sharp claw on each end

Tarsi (feet) – small hooks on feet to help the ant walk up trees

ABDOMEN (OR METASOMA)

Stinger - the common Black Ants and wood Ants have formic acid instead

2 stomachs - one for the ant and one for the colony

Scent gland – emits chemical odors that the ant uses to mark trails

Read: Tiny Workers by Nancy Loewen

Comprehension Questions:

1. What are the three body parts of an ant (and all insects)? Head, thorax and abdomen
2. What are the mandibles used for? to carry, dig, defend and eat with
3. How many legs does an ant have? Six
4. What are the ants antennae used for? To touch, smell, talk and feel with

Clothespin Ant

Discuss:

An ant has 3 body parts head, thorax, and abdomen. On the head are the feelers or antennae for touching and smelling with. The head also has compound eyes which have many tiny lenses. The thorax has 6 legs with a sharp claw on each end and these help the ant climb better and run fast.

                               

Materials:

• Black paint
• paintbrush
• clothespin
• black pipe cleaner
• 3 large black buttons
• glue
• googly eyes

Directions:

1. Paint your clothespin black.
2. Thread a 4-inch-long black pipe cleaner stems through the two holes of a large black button.
3. Twist and curl the ends of pipe cleaner stems where they meet to form antennae.
4. Glue googly eyes just below the antennae.
5. Next, cut three 3-inch pieces of black pipe cleaner for each pair of legs.
6. Have your child help you thread all three though the spring hole in the clothespin and adjust to form the legs.
7. Glue the face and two more black buttons to the top of the clothespin.  

Ant Anatomy

Review:

HEAD

Feelers or Antennae - to touch and smell with

Pinchers - to carry, dig, defend and eat with

Compound eyes - to see many of the same thing with

Brain - the better to process with

THORAX

6 legs with a sharp claw on each end

ABDOMEN

Poison sac

Stinger - the common Black Ants and wood Ants have formic acid instead

2 stomachs - one for me and one for the colony

Directions:  We used the Ant Anatomy Activity sheet to help with this review.

Adding Ants

Directions:

1. Use a piece of construction paper to write the combination answer in the middle circle (6),
2. and all the “legs” are the possible ways you could reach that number (2+4, 4+2, 6+0, 33+3, 1+5, 1+5)
3. Use tiny plastic ants to help demonstrate each combination.

Ant Talk

Discuss:  Ants express themselves by using these senses.

TOUCH- Ants tap one another with their antennae to announce the discovery of food and to ask for food.

SMELL- They emit pheromones that other ants smell through their antennae. This warns them of danger, says hello, or helps others to work harder.

SOUND- When they are trapped, they rub the joint between their waist and abdomen to make a squeaky sound that other ants hear through their legs.

TASTE- They exchange food with other ants mouth to mouth. This sharing of nutrition and chemicals says, "We're Family!"

Directions:  We used page 36 and 37 of this download for our Ant Talk activity.

Ant Unit Study

In this unit study we learned about ant anatomy, the ant life cycle, ant jobs, and colonies, types of ants, and ant enemies.  I did this unit study with my 1st grader and I recommend it for Kindergarten to 3rd grade.

Ant Unit Study

Day 1 Ant Anatomy

Day 2 Ant Live Cycle

Day 3 Ant Jobs

Day 4 Ant Colony

Day 5 Types of Ants

Day 6 Ant Enemies

 

Ant Book List 

Book can be read by the child or by the parent to the child, depending on the child's reading level.

Books I used in the lessons...

Tiny Workers by Nancy Loewen

The Life Cycle of an Ant by Trevor terry & Margaret Linton

Ant Colony by Kathy Furgang

Ant Cities by Arthur Dorros

Ant by Rebecca Stefoff

Giant Anteater by Sara Antill

Dear Deer by Gene Barretta

The Ant and the Grasshopper by Mark White

The Ants go Marching! By Dan Crisp

Ants at the Picnic by Michael Dahl

Truman's Aunt Farm by Jama Kin Rattigan

 

Other age appropriate books...

The Ants Go Marching One by One by Richard Bernal

One Hundred Hungry Ants by Elinor J. Pinczes

The Magic School But Gets Ants in its Pants by Joanna Cole

Little Black Ant on Park Street by Janet Halfmann

Look Inside an Ant Nest by Megan Cooley Peterson

What's it like to be an Ant? By Jinny Johnson

Ant by Karen Hartley and Chris Macro

Ant Webvideos

VeggieTales: School House Polka – YouTube

http://www.slideshare.net/bright9977/12-life-lessons-from-tiny-ants-7173883 (12 slides about ants)

Ant Movies

The Magic School Bus Gets Ants In It's Pants by Scholastic

Butterflies Day 4 -Butterfly vs. Moth

Butterfly vs. Moth

1. Discuss: Show the children a picture of a butterfly and a moth. Do you see any differences between the two?  There are four major differences between moths and butterflies.

• Butterflies are often more colorful than moths because butterflies are active during the day. Moths are active at night and have earthy colors to camouflage them while they sleep during the day.
• Most butterflies have club-shaped antennae or antennae with knobs on the end while a moth’s antennae are feather-like or taper to a point.
• Moths have a thicker coating of scales than butterflies, giving them a furry appearance. These heavy scales help keep them from losing heat during the night when they are most active.
• Butterflies grow a chrysalis and moths spin a cocoon.

Butterflies and moths have some similarities too.  They are both insects which mean that they both have 3 body parts, six legs, and hatch from eggs.

2. Read: What's the Difference Between a Butterfly and a Moth by Robin Koontz

 

3. Comprehension questions:

What are the 4 differences between butterflies and moths?

• Butterflies are often more colorful than moths because butterflies are active during the day. Moths are active at night and have earthy colors to camouflage them while they sleep during the day.
• Most butterflies have club-shaped antennae or antennae with knobs on the end while a moth’s antennae are feather-like or taper to a point.
• Moths have a thicker coating of scales than butterflies, giving them a furry appearance.
• Butterflies grow a chrysalis and moths spin a cocoon.

What are some similarities between butterflies and moths?

• Both are insects.
• Both have six legs.
• Both have 2 pair of wings.
• Both hatch from eggs.

Butterfly Suckers

I found these butterfly suckers in the Easter clearance at the store so I got them for a fun treat.

  

Butterfly Adjectives

Discuss:

An adjective is a describing word. Ask the children what words describe a butterfly? Use adjectives to create an acrostic poem about butterflies.

Create an acrostic poem using the beginning letters of the word “butterfly”.

       B

________________________________________________________________________________

       U

________________________________________________________________________________

       T

________________________________________________________________________________

       T

________________________________________________________________________________

       E

________________________________________________________________________________

       R

________________________________________________________________________________

       F

________________________________________________________________________________

       L

________________________________________________________________________________

       Y

________________________________________________________________________________

Butterfly vs. Moth Venn Diagram

Materials:

• 2 hoola hoops
• note cards
• markers

Directions:

1. Write one trait on each note card.
2. Write "butterfly" one one note card and "moth" on one.
3. Place the hoola hoops on the floor overlapping each other to form a Venn Diagram.
4. Place the "butterfly" note card in one hoola hoop and the "moth" note card in the other.
5. Have the child place each of the trait cards in the appropriate hoops.
   

   

Traits:

• six legs
• body is thick and looks hairy
• body is thin and doesn't look hairy
• compound eyes
• head, thorax, abdomen
• two pairs of wings
• makes a cocoon
• makes a chrysalis
• hatches from an egg
• two antennae
• mouth is a proboscis
• usually active at night
• usually active during the day
• is an insect
• usually brightly colored
• usually colored in earth-tones
• antennae are often thick and feathery
• antennae are club-shaped at the end
• undergoes complete metamorphosis

Identifying a Butterfly

We found a dead butterfly and tried to look at the traits with a magnifying glass and microscope.  We decided that because of the bright colors and knobs on the antennae that it was a butterfly and not a moth.

Do You See the Difference?

We used pages 18 and 19 of Do You See the Difference to review some of the differences between butterflies and moths.

Locating a Host Plant

Materials:

• 4 jams of the same color- These 4 can have different textures as long as they are all close to the same color. Some can even be the same flavor as long as the texture is different.
• 2 small paper plates
• 1 toothpick
• Lots of paper towels

Preparation:

1. Set out two small paper plates and a tooth pick for every child.

2. Assign a number to each of the four jams.

3. Write the numbers for each of the four jams on one of the child’s plates.

4. Place a small amount of each jam next to its number on the plate.

5. Write the name of one of the jams on the second plate and place a small amount of that jam on it.  This will be the host jam.

In Class:

6. Explain that once a butterfly has mated the female will carefully search for the correct food plant for her eggs and caterpillars. Butterflies are very picky about where they lay their eggs because each species of butterfly caterpillar only eats specific kinds of plants. These plants are called “host plants.” The female butterfly instinctively recognizes the leaf shape, color, odor, taste, texture, and appearance of her species’ host plant.

7. Write the ways a butterfly recognizes a host plant on the board. color, odor, taste, texture, and apperance

8. Tell the children that the labeled jam on their plate is their “host” jam. Tell them to pretend that they are butterflies and that their baby caterpillars will only be able to eat the right host jam. Students should find their “host” jam on the second paper plate.

9. Tell them to first observe their “host” jam and to list the observations on their index card.

10. Encourage students to use their senses to determine which mystery jam is their “host” jam.

11. When they think they have figured out which of the 4 mystery jams is their “host” jam they should write down the number of that jam on their index card.
12.  When the children are done reveal what the host jam number is.

13. For each of the 4 “host” jams go around the room and ask what senses the kids used to determine their host jam and what their observations were about their jam.

14. Explain that this is what a butterfly must go through when trying to find its host plant.

Fun Fact: The criterion for selecting a mate is different from one species to another. Some species of butterflies and moths will perform ritual dances in the air or on leaves. A female may judge a male’s strength and vigor by how well he follows her complicated aerial dance.

Butterfly Math Coloring

We finished off our study with a Butterfly Mach Coloring page to review some addition facts.