Contributor: Samantha Penna. Lesson ID: 11508
Do you pay much attention to ants unless they are snatching your snacks at a picnic? Since they visit your home, you should visit theirs! Watch them in action, then try outdoor research to study ants!
Do you know what kind of bug this is? HINT: It's not one of your relatives, although it sounds like one!
You may have seen them stealing food from picnic tables, or even crawling around in your home! Tell your parent or teacher about a time you saw an ant.
Ants are insects (bugs). They have bodies that are divided into three parts. The first part is the head. Point to the head on the ant below. The next part of the ant's body is called the thorax. This is the middle part of the ant's body where all six of its legs are attached. Point to the thorax on the ant below. The last part of the ant's body is called the abdomen. Point to the abdomen in the ant below.
Ants are social bugs. This means they work well as a team.
Share your answer with your parent or teacher.
A great example of a team is a soccer team, or any type of athletic team. The whole team has to work together to score goals and keep the opponent from scoring goals. Ants work just like a team.
The queen ant is in charge of all the other ants. She is the team leader. The queen ant lays eggs with baby ants inside. The other ants are in charge of getting the food, protecting the nest, taking care of the baby ants, and digging the tunnels for their home.
Do you recognize the pictures below? They show ant hills. An ant's interesting home starts here. The ant hill is designed to keep water out of the ant's nest. If you dig deeper into an ant's nest, you will see many tunnels. Some tunnels have rooms attached to them. If you have ever owned an ant farm, you know ants are excellent at digging tunnels!
Watch these ants create tunnels in the ants digging tunnels 900x life speed by iamsnoozin ant farm video below:
Before moving on to the Got It? section, tell your parent or teacher what the three parts of an ant's body are. When you are finished, move on to the Got It? section to learn about different types of ants.
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