Learning About Insects- Ant Week

We spent last week learning about ants. We learned many interesting things, and were most fascinated to learn that ants actually stroke aphids, to get them to release a liquid called honeydew. This special liquid is stored in the ants second stomach(crop), and is later fed to the queen ant down in the ant colony. Ask your child about some more interesting ant info!

On Friday, we constructed some ant traps, to attract some for observing. (Unfortunately, the lawn we used had been mowed earlier in the day, and the ants were way below the surface). First graders needed to invent a trap, and decide what might attract ants. Would it be a sweet treat like honey, sugar or fresh chocolate chip cookie crumbs? Would the ants like salty, greasy foods like chips? Would honeydew melon, or grapes work?

Students then created a diagram of their ant trap , and also predicted the amount of ants they would see. Guesses ranged from 4 to 100.

Traps were set outside, and we agreed to observe at 4 regular intervals.

Several groups teamed up for their trap assembly.

Ask your child about their final outcome, and the plan for next time!