بحث حول النمل من Deak الفرح بالإنجليزية

Ants
By Joy Deak



A Science Focus Lesson from Pine JogEnvironmental Education Center

Grade 3








A Sunshine State Standards Science
FocusLesson from Pine Jog Environmental Education Center
A Unitof Florida AtlanticUniversity / College of Education
6301 Summit Boulevard
West Palm Beach, FL 33415
Ph:561-686-6600
Fax:561-687-4968

ANTS

Day One
1. Pretest (15 minutes)
2. Hook Activity: Read the poem, “Who Pulled the Plug in My AntFarm?” (5 minutes)
3. Prior Knowledge KWL (15 minutes)

Day Two
1. Explicit Instruction, Read The Magic School Bus Gets Ants inits Pants and Armies of Ants or any other appropriate books aboutants from the media center. (15 minutes)
2. Guided Practice, Name ants body parts (10 minutes) Compare and contrast spiders andants using a Venn diagram (15 minutes)
3. Independent Practice, Do anatomy of an ant and Observation Guide(15 minutes)
4. Homework, Word bank

Day Three
1. Explicit Instruction, Ant Picnic Lab Instruction(10minutes)
2. Guided Practice, Ant Picnic Lab; Students will go outside andleave sample foods for ants
Check results3X every 1 or 2 hours (10 minutes each)
3. Independent Practice, Record and chart results (15 minutes)

Day Four
1. Explicit Instruction, Read Hey, Little Ant using choralreading or choosing parts (10 minutes) * Required for reading
2. Guided Practice 1, Discuss story and attitude towards ants (10minutes)
Read “I can’t” said the ant anddiscuss rhyming, fantasy and reality (15 minutes) * Required for reading
3. Guided Practice 2, Researching Fire Ants (15 minutes)
4. Independent Practice, Activity Page 3.2 (15 minutes)
5. Homework, Word bank


Day Five

1. Guided Practice, Using Harcourt Science text Unit C Chapter 3show ant hill (10 minutes) Look through other books showing ant colonies
2. Independent Practice Part 1, Illustrate ant colony showingtunnels using large brown paper (15 minutes)
3. Independent Practice Part 2, Identify all ants and their jobs(10 minutes)
4. Posttest (15 minutes)


Day Six
1. Explicit Instruction, Read the Mexican fable, The Little Red Andand the Great Big Crumb. Retold by, Shirley Climo (15 minutes)
2. Guided Practice, Discuss fables, and the lesson taught (15minutes)
3. Independent Practice, Answer questions about the story (10 minutes)




Day Seven
1. Reteaching Activity (30 minutes)
2. Guided Practice, Create a word map about ants (10 minutes)
3. Independent Practice, Journal writing and illustrations (15minutes)


Dear Teacher,
This is a suggested literature list however; there areseveral required books. The requiredbooks will be marked with an asterisk (*).




Bibliography:

*Brown, Margaret Wise. The Grasshopper and the Ants:Disney Press, 1993.

*Calder, S. J., If You Were An Ant: Silver Press,1989.

* Cameron, Polly. “I can’t” said the ant:Scholastic,1961.

Climo, Shirley. The Little Red Ant and the Great BigCrumb. Clarion Books, 1995.

Cole, Joanna. The Magic SchoolBus Gets Ants in Its Pants, 1994.

Dorros, Arthur. Ant Cities: Scholastic, 1987.

Harcourt Science grade 3, 2002

* Hoose, Phillip and Hannah. Hey, Little Ant. Tricycle Press. 1998.

* Princzes, Elinor. One Hundred Hungry Ants: HoughtenMifflin, 1993.

Project Wild K-12 Curriculum & Activity Guide: 2000

Retan, Walter. Armies of Ants: Scholastic, 1994.

Tomlins, Karen. Creepy Crawlies: Scholastic, 1996.

[ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذا الرابط]


Grade Level Expectations for the Sunshine State Standards




Strand A: The Nature Of Matter
SC.A. 2.2.1 the student uses a tool to observe and studyminute details of objects
(For example, hand lens)


Strand F: ProcessesOF Life

SC.F 1.2.3 the student understands that although plantsand animals are different, they also share
Common characteristics (forexample, they both have structures for reproduction,
Respirationand growth)

Strand G: How Living Things Interact With Their Environment
SC.G. 1.2.2 thestudent knows how organisms with similar needs in a climatic
Regioncompete with one another for resources such as food,
Water,oxygen, or space.

SC.G. 2.2.1 thestudent understands that plants and animals share and compete
Forlimited resources such as oxygen, water, food, and space.

SC.G 2.2.2 thestudent knows that the size of a population is dependent upon
The availableresources within its community

Strand A: Reading
LA.A. 2.2.4 knows personal preferences for literary texts for example, novels,
Stories, poems

LA.A.2.2.5 reads and organizes information for avariety of purposes

LA.A.2.2.7 understands the use of comparison andcontrast with a selection

Strand H: The Nature ofScience
SC.H.1.2.2 the student knows that a successful methodto explore the natural world is to observe and record, and analyze andcommunicate the results.
SC.H.1.2.4 The student knows that to compare andcontrast observations and results is an essential skill in science.

SC.H.12.5 The student knows that a model ofsomething is different from the real thing, but can be used to learn somethingabout the real thing.
Strand E: Literature
LA.E.1.2.1 identifies the distinguishing featuresamong fiction, drama, and poetry and identifies themajor characteristics of nonfiction.

LA.E.2.2.2 recognizes the techniques of language usedin children’s literature
(Forexample, sensory words, rhymes, choice of vocabulary)

Strand B: Writing
L.A.B.2.2.1 writes notes, comments, and observationsthat reflect comprehension of content and experiences from a variety of media.
ANTS Pre/Posttest




Name: __________________________

Multiple Choice:

_______1. Where do ants live?
A. water
B. colonies
C. tribes
D. hives

_______2. How many stages of growth does an ant have?
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

_______3. About how many different types of ants are there?
A. 50
B. 100
C. 1000
D. 9000

_______4. About how many years can a queen ant live?
A. 5 years
B. 10 years
C. 20 years
D. 30 years


5. Illustrate an ant and name thebody parts.





6. Explain why an ant is so oftencalled a social creature.





7. In order for an ant colony to sustain itself,there must be a queen, workers, and males. Explain how the colony maintains itself.

8. Read the paragraph and explain how ants are helpful and harmful to humans.

Ants are both helpful and hurtful to humans. They can be very helpful to farmers bykeeping the soil rich and fertile. Whenants travel in and out of the ground it moves the soil and allows rainwater tosoak in more easily, which helps plants grow.
Ants can kill plants too, which means trouble for people whogrow gardens. Sometimes ants eat plantsor vegetables faster than they can grow. This makes the plants or vegetables die. Most of the time, however, humans walk right by ants and hardly noticethem at all.

ANTS Pre/PosttestAnswer Key




Name: __________________________

Multiple Choice:

__F_____1. Where do ants live?
E. water
F. colonies
G. tribes
H. hives

__4_____2. How many stages of growth does an ant have?
E. 1
F. 2
G. 3
H. 4

__H_____3. About how many different types of ants are there?
E. 50
F. 100
G. 1000
H. 9000

__G_____4. About how many years can a queen ant live?
E. 5 years
F. 10 years
G. 20 years
H. 30 years


5.Illustrate an ant and name the body parts.





6. Explain why an ant is so often called a social creature.

Ants are very social insects, working together to digtunnels, collect food, and take care of their young. They work together for the good of the wholegroup.


7. In order for an ant colony to sustain itself,there must be a queen, workers, and males. Explain how the colony maintains itself.


Ant colonies consist of one queen, several males, and manyfemale workers. The sole job of maleants is to mate with the queen who spends her whole life laying eggs. The large queen ant and the male ants havewings whereas the female workers do not.



8. Read the paragraph and explain how ants arehelpful and harmful to humans.

Ants are both helpful and hurtful to humans. They can be very helpful to farmers bykeeping the soil rich and fertile. Whenants travel in and out of the ground it moves the soil and allows rainwater tosoak in more easily, which helps plants grow.
Ants can kill plants too, which means trouble for people whogrow gardens. Sometimes ants eat plantsor vegetables faster than they can grow. This makes the plants or vegetables die. Most of the time, however, humans walk right by ants and hardly noticethem at all.


Day 1



Priorto class session:
· Read teacher background knowledgesection.
· Prepare materials for Hook,pretest, and KWL
· Prepare a bulletin board with redand white checked tablecloth with a heading teacher’s name class is a picnic.(Mrs. Deak’s class is a picnic)
· Optional – Serve ants on a log(celery with peanut butter or cream cheese with raisins)
· Make a model ant from Styrofoam(Plastifoam Andy Ant kit avaiable)

Materials:
· Poem “Who Pulled the Plug in MyAnt Farm?”
· Copies of pre/post tests
· Copies of KWL and chart paper
· Copies of ants to cut out
· Prepared ants on a log

Procedure:

Administerpretest (15 minutes)

HookActivity:
· Read the poem, “Who Pulled thePlug in My Ant Farm?” (5 minutes)
· Talk about ant experiences
· Talk about rhyming words and wordexpression
· Serve ants on a log (10 minutes)

PriorKnowledge:
· Hand out KWL paper and havestudents fill in about ants (10 minutes)
· Record their results on chartpaper and hang in classroom (10 minutes)

IndependentPractice:
· Hand out ant copies to color andcut out to decorate the bulletin board (10 minutes)
· Make Ant Prints; Press an eraserend of a pencil into black paint or a black inkpad. Print ant bodies on paper. Then draw in the details with a fine-tipblack pen. If you want to make red ants,use red paint.

Teacher Background Knowledge



Insects include beetles, flies, mosquitoes, butterflies,dragonflies, fleas, termites, ants and others.
Head: One pair of antennae
Legs and Body: Three pairs of legs; one or two sets ofwings; three body sections: head, thorax, abdomen
Home: All land habitats, air, and fresh water habitats
Food: Other animals and plants
Special features: A special tube system for breathing;compound eyes made of hundreds of lenses.
Facts: There are more different kinds of insects than thereare all other kinds of animals.
ANTS:
All ants are social, living in family groups centered aroundone or more queen ants that are rarely seen outside of the colony. Queens layeggs, which hatch into small white larvae. Most larvae, after pupation, mature into sterile workers. Worker ants build or dig the nest, gatherfood, and care for the larvae and pupae. Workers are what most people think of as typical ants. Within the colony ants have jobs. They can be categorized as the queen,soldiers, workers and foragers. Thequeen is the most important in the colony. The queen has wings and so do the males. They fly in the air to mate. After mating the queens wings are broken off and they dig small nests,to start new colonies. The males die shortlyafter mating. The queen will lay hereggs, which are very tiny. In a few daysthe eggs hatch into larvae. Femaleworker ants are usually born first.

There are about 9,000 different types of ants all over theworld. For example, army, fire, bulldog,carpenter, weaver, and Amazon to name a few.
The majority of ants build many kinds of nests. Most are underground but some are intrees. They dig tunnels and builddifferent chambers to store food, hold eggs, and the larvae. There is usually a special larger chamber forthe queen ant and the newest eggs.

Ants have a special way of finding food outside theiranthill. Some female workers are antscouts and when they locate food they pick up as much as they can carry andreturn to the anthill. On the way backthey leave a special smelling trail that other worker ants can easily follow tothe food.

Ants eat many different kinds of foods. Army ants eat insects, harvester ants gatherseeds, and kernels. Honey ants collectsweet honeydew from flowers and take it back to the nest for the workers.

Ants are important to the life cycle because, ants eat hugenumbers of insect pests, ants scatter seeds, ants eat dead bodies of manyinsect and small animals, other animals eat ants, ants stir up the soil,enriching it.

Ants are very special insects. They can communicate with each other. They divide up their work to carry ourdifficult job. Ants work for the good ofthe whole colony.

“WhoPulled the Plug in My Ant Farm?”

By: James Prelutsky

Who pulled the plug in my ant farm?
Who let my ants get away?
Their tunnels are almost deserted,
I’m having a miserable day.
They’ve gathered in groups in the corners,
they’re swarming all over the floor,
for each one I get in my clutches,
there seem to be two dozen more.

I’m doing my best to corral them,
I doubt that I’ll ever be done,
there’s nothing as hard to recapture
as hundreds of ants on the run.
My mother found ants in her slippers,
my sister found ants in her shoes,
they got in my father’s pajamas,
he bellowed, “I’m blowing a fuse.”

Some have invaded the kitchen,
They’ve started attacking our food,
my mother is shrieking in horror,
and I’m in a horrible mood.
Who pulled the plug in my ant farm,
infesting our home with those pests?
I have the unhappy suspicion
that ants are our permanent guests.





DAY 2



Priorto class session:

• Prepare overhead of Venn Diagram
  
• Prepare Spider or Insect body Pages, and Compare/Contrast copies.
  
• Prepare copies for students.
  
• Check media center for books about ants.
  

Materials:

• Transparencies
  

• Copies for students
  

• Books available about spiders and ants such as, (The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in its Pants, and Armies of Ants by Walter Petan)
  

Procedure:
ExplicitInstruction: (15 minutes)

• Read one of the following books about ants.
  
• Ask the following questions:
  
• How are ants important to the environment? They contribute to population of their prey, recycling of plant material, seed dispersal, and turning of soil.
  
• Why is it said that ants are closely related to wasps? They have the same body structure; some ants have a stinger for defense.
  
• What are the similarities and differences of the basic needs of ants and humans? Although humans and ants are obviously different, both species share the same basic needs, as do all animal species, such as shelter, water and food.
  
• How can ants be said to be herbivores, carnivores, or omnivores? Some ants eat leaves, fungus, wood, or other dead insects, etc.
  

• Explain you are going to show diagrams of spiders and ants,
  

students are to compare and contrastthe differences.

GuidedPractice:

• Have students compare and contrast a spider and an ant using their own Venn diagram. They are to write facts that are true only about spiders in the spider section, and facts that are only true about ants in the ant section, and facts that are true about both in the center section. Students may work in groups.
  

• Circulate the room while students are working.
  

• Have each group share one thing they wrote giving each group an opportunity.
  
• Teacher can fill in transparency.
  
• Facilitate class discussion about the differences between spiders and ants.
  
• Read the description of ants.
  
• Use the body part transparency to fill in the names of the body parts.
  
• Students may fill in their copy.
  

IndependentPractice:

• Instruct students to fill in their Compare/Contrast paper.
  
• Assign the fill in the blank reading paragraph for homework
  

Name the body parts








Venn Diagram












Name: __________________________ Date:________________________


Compare/Contrast





SPIDER ANT



1. How many legs do you see? ______ 1. How many legs do you see? _____

2. How many eyes do you see? ______ 2. How many eyes do you see? ____

3. How many body parts do yousee? _____ 3. How many bodyparts do you see?_____

4. Does the spider have wings? 4. Does the ant havewings?

__________________________________ _____________________________

5. Does the spider have hair onits body? 5. Does theant have hair on its body?

________________________________ ____________________________

6. Does the spider haveantennae or feelers 6.Does the spider have antennae or
on its head? feelers on its head?

________________________________ _____________________________

7. Draw a spider. 7.Draw an ant.














Name _________________________

Ants from (Let’s Take a Field Trip to an Ant Colony By:Kathy Furgang)

Word Bank: community, food, chambers, sleeping, baby,colony, social, dirt

Ants stay together in large groups. A group of ants is called an ant_______. Colonies can have hundreds ormillions of ants living in them. Insectsthat live and work together are _________ insects. An ant colony is a big ______________. Ants spend most of their time looking forenough _______ to feed the colony. Theyalso spend time in their nests and store food there. They use food to feed their ______ ants. Ants work hard to meet the needs of theircolony.
Ants can make their homes almost anywhere. Their nests are often dug into sand or________. Ants dig down into the groundand make chambers, or rooms, that connect to each other by hallways. Each chamber has a special purpose in thecolony. Some chambers are for restingand ____________, some are used to store food, and others are used as rooms forbaby ants. As a colony grows, ants buildmore ______________ and tunnels to meet the needs of the growing community.


Word Bank: nest, flying, queen, colony, six, honey,females, eggs

Every colony is made up of three kinds of ants. The ________ ant usually starts the colonyand makes it grow by laying _______ and producing more ants. To do this she flies off with thousands ofmale ants. Male ants and the queen arethe only ants that have wings. The malesjoin together, or mate with her while _________. This is the male ant’s only job. Soon after the males mate with the queen, theydie.
The other ____________ in a colony are called workerants. They build the ________, find foodfor the colony, care for the young, and fight enemies.
All ants can be divided into ______ large groups. Each group is named after the kind of work itdoes best. Harvester ants collect andstore seeds. Army ants are best athunting other insects. Honey ants take _________from other insects and store it in their nests. Slave makers attack other ant nests and steal eggs so they can raisemore ants to work in growers raise different kinds of molds so they can haveenough food for the ants in their community to share. Dairying ants get their food by sucking onsweet liquid called honeydew.



Day 3 Ant picnic



Priorto class session:

Scan the school grounds and locate a sunny spot whereseveral ant mounds are located. Plan ontaking students out several times to check food.


Materials:

• Several pieces of a sandwich (possibly peanut butter and jelly)
  
• Twenty plastic milk jug lids with honey, milk, soda, and jelly (4 for each group)
  
• Magnifying hand lens for each group
  
• Ant farm if available (optional)
  

Procedure:(20 minutes)
ExplicitInstruction:

• Go over yesterday’s homework, fill in the blanks.
  

· Review body parts of ant
· Remind students’ ants live incolonies and they work together having different jobs.
· Discuss what an ant mound wouldlook like and that the exposed hole is only the top and that underground thereare many chambers and tunnels where the ants live. This is where the ant farm could beused.

• Explain that you will be going outside with a few samples of food to see what ants like to eat.
  
• Using a sandwich you could talk about how many ants one sandwich would feed compared to how many people one sandwich would feed. Ask students why so many ants could eat a meal from one sandwich while only one human could eat a meal from one sandwich.
  
• Ask how one sandwich could be divided up to feed several colonies.
  
• Divide students into groups of three or four
  
• Each group should have a piece of sandwich and 4 milk jug lids with honey, milk, soda, and jelly
  
• Take each group of students to different areas to place food. (Shady, sunny, known anthill, etc.)
  
• Have students place their food and leave for an hour or so. Schedule to be able to return twice to observe ants.
  
• Allow students to go out and observe the feeding activity.
  
• Students should observe how the ants attack the sandwich and other food.
  
  
• Observe ants as they search for food. Students should notice ants walk in straight lines. Ask how do they seem to communicate to other ants when they discover food?
  
• Students may use lenses and record their results.
  

Guided Practice: (15 minutes)



· Before going outside encouragestudents to think about and discuss foods ants may eat. Have chart paper or a bulletin board dividedinto three sections: 1) foods an ant would eat 2) foods an ant would not eat 3)foods an ant might eat.

• After going inside have each group report on their ant mound. Record results on chart paper.
  
• Talk about other foods ants will eat.
  

The Number of ants seen ateach location

Group	Sandwich	Honey	Jelly	Soda	Milk
1
2
3
4

Talk about the location of wheremost ants were spotted. Was it sunny orshady? Wet or dry?


Independent Practice: (10 minutes)

• Have students record their experience in their science journal. Including when they went outside, what food they used, and their results. Ask students to come up with other foods to put out for ants. They can draw the mounds and ants and write about what they saw the ants eat. Students can share their journal writing with the class.
  
• Assign paragraph reading and fill in the blank for homework.
  

Day 4



Priorto class session:

• Obtain from the media center a copy of Hey, Little Ant by Phillip and Hannah Hoose and “I Can’t” said the Ant by Polly Cameron.
  
• Hey, Little Ant has great illustrations and is worth locating
  

• Teacher read Researching Fire Ants page 3 in FL Activities book
  
• Copy of Researching Fire Ants Activity Page 3-2
  

Materials:

• Copy of Hey, Little Ant and “I can’t” said the ant
  

• Copies of Researching Fire Ants Activity Page 3-2
  

Procedure:
ExplicitInstruction: (15 minutes)

• Have students read Hey, Little Ant as a play or choral reading. The story is the battle between right and wrong. A child wonders whether he should squash an ant or let it go. Ask students about their own behavior towards ants and other insects. Would you squash a fire ant? Would you squash a sugar ant?
  
• The story is written as a play, the kid talking to the ant.
  
• It is also a song, and there is a web page [ندعوك للتسجيل في المنتدى أو التعريف بنفسك لمعاينة هذا الرابط] (other ideas available)
  
• Have students act the story out with different endings.
  
• Read “I can’t” said the ant, discuss rhyming, and chart responses, quotation marks, fantasy and reality.
  

GuidedPractice 1: (10 minutes)

• Discuss story and attitude towards ants, check web site out
  

GuidedPractice 2: (15 minutes)

• Give background information on fire ants, which will facilitate a discussion on squashing fire ants or not (page 3 lesson 3-2 workbook).
  

IndependentPractice: (15 minutes)

• Assign the question should the child squash the ant as a writing prompt. Students may read their stories to the class.
  
• Pass out Activity Page 3-2
  

Homework:

• Read paragraphs and fill in blanks.
  

Name __________________________

Ants from (Let’s Take a Field Trip to an Ant Colony By:Kathy Furlong)

Word Bank: taste, size, antenna, temperatures, stored,ants, lift, adapting, hunters

There are more ants in the world than any other livingcreature. There are over 9,000 differenttypes of ants. Ants are very strong andwork hard. They can ______ things that are10 to 50 times the weight of their own bodies! Ants can carry leaves, dead insects, garbage, and anything else theywant to eat. Every ant has two longfeelers called _____________ attached to its head. Tiny hairs on the antenna allow the ants tosmell, touch, taste, and hear. Ants tapthe ground with their antennae to smell the air and other things aroundthem. Ants use their feelers to helpthem find the things they collect as food. They also use their feelers to help them _________ their food beforethey eat it.

Ants are great ___________. Although they are small, they capture and kill insects that are muchlarger than themselves. Ants hunt inlarge numbers. Between 10,000 to 100,000ants travel together to find food or to eat dead animals, such as snakes andeven horses, in a matter of hours. When________ are finished feasting, only the skeleton of their meal is left. These hunting trips last for about 17 days. Ants then return home to rest for about 20days and eat food they have stored in the nest.

Ants’ bodies are very good at ______________, or changing,to different temperatures and conditions. Ants do not mind the changes in ________________ and conditions.
Ants do not mind the changes in temperature from season toseason. Ants are also successful becausethey are so small. The ants’ small_______ allows them to explore areas that other animals and insects cannotreach. They can crawl into small cracksin trees or under the ground to find food. Scientists who study insects say that ants can eat almost anything. A colony of ants and march into a garbagecan, pick out food that humans thrown out, and feed the ants in their colonywith it.





Day 5

Priorto class session:

• Have books from media center showing chambers and tunnels. (If You Were An Ant, Ant Cities, Armies of Ants, Grasshopper and the Ants)
  
• Large sheet of brown paper
  

Materials:

• Books
  
• Brown paper
  
• Markers and crayons
  

Procedure:
ExplicitInstruction: (15 minutes)

• Go over fill in the blank homework
  

• Direct students to look through books for pictures of tunnels and chambers.
  
• Discuss the different jobs ants have and the importance of each job.
  
• Read The Grasshopper and the Ants
  
• Discuss what would happen if some of the ants failed to do their job.
  
• Elicit comments from students about what the chambers and tunnels look like.
  

IndependentPractice: (20 minutes)

• Students will illustrate their own colonies showing the tunnels and chambers.
  
• Students will think and explain how important specific jobs are in a colony and compare it to jobs in the classroom or their home. What happens if someone does not do his or her job?
  

AdministerPosttest (10 minutes)




Answer Key


Ants (Let’s Take aField Trip to an Ant Colony By: Kathy Furgang)

Word Bank: community, food, chambers, sleeping, baby,colony, social, dirt

Ants stay together in large groups. A group of ants is called an ant colony. Colonies can have hundreds or millions ofants living in them. Insects that liveand work together are social insects. An ant colony is a big community. Ants spend most of their time looking for enough food to feed thecolony. They also spend time in theirnests and store food there. They usefood to feed their baby ants. Ants work hard to meet the needs of their colony.
Ants can make their homes almost anywhere. Their nests are often dug into sand or dirt. Ants dig down into the ground and makechambers, or rooms, that connect to each other by hallways. Each chamber has a special purpose in thecolony. Some chambers are for restingand sleeping, some are used to store food, and others are used as roomsfor baby ants. As a colony grows, antsbuild more chambers and tunnels to meet the needs of the growingcommunity.

Word Bank: nest, flying, queen, colony, six, honey,females, eggs

Every colony is made up of three kinds of ants. The queen ant usually starts thecolony and makes it grow by laying eggs and producing more ants. To do this she flies off with thousands ofmale ants. Male ants and the queen arethe only ants that have wings. The malesjoin together, or mate with her while flying. This is the male ant’s only job. Soon after the males mate with the queen,they die.

The other females in a colony are called workerants. They build the nest, findfood for the colony, care for the young, and fight enemies.

All ants can be divided into six large groups. Each group is named after the kind of work itdoes best. Harvester ants collect andstore seeds. Army ants are best at huntingother insects. Honey ants take honeyfrom other insects and store it in their nests. Slave makers attack other ant nests and steal eggs so they can raisemore ants to work in their own colony. Fungus growers raise different kinds of molds so they can have enoughfood for the ants in their community to share. Dairying ants get their food by sucking on sweet liquid called honeydew.

Word Bank: taste, size, antenna, temperatures, stored,ants, lift, adapting, hunters

There are more ants in the world than any other livingcreature. There are over 9,000 differenttypes of ants. Ants are very strong andwork hard. They can lift thingsthat are 10 to 50 times the weight of their own bodies! Ants can carry leaves, dead insects, garbage,and anything else they want to eat. Every ant has two long feelers called antennae attached to itshead. Tiny hairs on the antenna allowthe ants to smell, touch, taste, and hear. Ants tap the ground with their antennae to smell the air and otherthings around them. Ants use theirfeelers to help them find the things they collect as food. They also use their feelers to help them tastetheir food before they eat it.

Ants are great hunters. Although they are small, they capture andkill insects that are much larger than themselves. Ants hunt in large numbers. Between 10,000 to 100,000 ants traveltogether to find food or to eat dead animals, such as snakes and even horses,in a matter of hours. When antsare finished feasting, only the skeleton of their meal is left. These hunting trips last for about 17 days. Ants then return home to rest for about 20days and eat food they have stored in the nest.

Ants’ bodies are very good at adapting, or changing,to different temperatures and conditions. Ants do not mind the changes in temperatures and conditions. Ants do not mind the changes in temperaturefrom season to season. Ants are alsosuccessful because they are so small. The ants’ small size allows them to explore areas that otheranimals and insects cannot reach. Theycan crawl into small cracks in trees or under the ground to find food. Scientists who study insects say that antscan eat almost anything. A colony ofants and march into a garbage can, pick out food that humans thrown out, andfeed the ants in their colony with it.

Ants are both helpful and hurtful to humans. They can be very helpful to farmers bykeeping the soil rich and fertile. Whenants travel in and out of the ground it moves the soil and allows rainwater tosoak in more easily, which helps plants grow.

Ants can kill plants too, which means trouble for people whogrow gardens. Sometimes ants eat plantsor vegetables faster than they can grow. This makes the plants or vegetables die. Most of the time, however, humans walk right by ants and hardly noticethem at all.

Most ants are dark colors such as black, brown, or rust, butants come in other colors too. Some antsare green, purple, blue, or yellow. Different colored ants have been found all around the world. In each colony though, you will find antsthat are all the same color. How longdo ants live? Scientists who study antshave found that make ants live only a few weeks or months. Female worker ants can live from a year tofive years. The queen lives the longestof all. She can live up to 20 years!



Day 6
Priorto class session:

• Read The Little Red Ant and the Great Big Crumb.
  

ExplicitInstruction,
· If you can get the book the illustrations add a lot to the story.
· Have students guess what the ant is talking about each time.

• Read The Little Red Ant and the Great Big Crumb
  

A Mexican Folktale
Retold by Shirley Climo

Once in a cornfield in Mexico, there lived a little redant. She shared an anthill with her ninehundred ninety-nine cousins. They lookedexactly alike except for the little red ant. She was a bit smaller than the others.

Early one fall morning all the ants crawled from theiranthill. They paraded single file acrossthe field, looking for food to store for the winter. Because her legs were shorter, the little redant was last in line.

“Amigos!” she called. “Wait for me.” “Quick!” scolded the others. “Pronto!”
The larger ants began to return to the nest, carrying scrapsof corn on top of their heads. They leftnothing behind for the little red ant. Then she spied something yellow under a leaf. It was the color of corn, but it smelled muchsweeter.

The ant guessed at once what it was. “Torta!” exclaimed the little red ant. Perhaps a bird had dropped the cake from thesky. Perhaps a mouse had dug it from theground. But now this wonderful crumb ofcake belonged to her. “Lucky me!” saidthe little red ant. She tried to pushthe crumb. “Oooof!” she puffed. She tried to pull it. “Ugh!” she panted. She sighed and said, “I need someone strongto carry my crumb for me.”

The little red ant covered the cake with the leafagain. Then she set off down the row ofcornstalks to find someone strong to help her.

The ant had not gone when she spied a log. “A log is nice for resting,” she said,climbing up on it.

“Get off.”

The ant jumped down. She discovered a pointy nose at one end of the log. At the other end she found a twitchingtail. The ant guessed at once what itwas.

“El Lagarto!” exclaimed the little red ant. “Buenos dias,” the ant said politely to thelizard. “Good morning. I am looking for someone strong.” El Lagarto puffed his cheeks. “I’m so strong I can blow down ananthill.” “Not that!” the ant cried. “I want you to carry my big crumb ofcake.” “Too cold,” grumbled thelizard. “I’m stiff as a stick until ElSol warms me up.” “Then El Sol isstronger than you are,” said the ant. “Ishall ask the sun to help me.”

“We can wait for him together,” El Lagarto whispered. He flicked out his long tongue. “Come closer.” “No, gracias,” the ant said quickly. “No, thank you!” She did not want to be breakfast for a hungrylizard. The little ant ran down the rowas fast as her six legs would take her.

She had not gone very far when she spied a cobweb stretchedbetween two cornstalks. Shining throughthe web was the sun. “Lucky me!” criedthe ant. “There is El Sol caught in anet!” She scrambled up the stalk. “Stop shaking my ladder!” The little red ant spied something black andyellow skipping across the web. The antguessed at once what it was. “LaArana!” exclaimed the little red ant. “Perdon,” said the ant to the spider. “Excuse me. I am climbing to thesun to ask him to carry my crumb of cake. El Sol is very strong.” “Foolishant!” scoffed the spider. “No one can climb so high. Anyhow, I know someone stronger then El Sol.” “Who?” asked the ant. “El Gallo! He wakes the sun everymorning.”

“Then I shall ask him to help me,” the ant declared. “Stay a while,” La Arana coaxed,” and keep mecompany.” The little red ant gazed up atthe spider. The sun had moved higher inthe sky and no longer seemed caught in the web. A fly was caught instead. “No,gracias,” said the ant quickly. She didnot want La Arana to tie her up like the fly. “No, thank you.”

The little red ant backed down the stalk and hurried on herway. She had not gone very far when shestumbled over the roots of two tall thin trees. “Que pasa?” a scratchy voice demanded. “What’s happening?” The antrubbed her eyes. She saw that the rootswere really claws. She saw that thetrees were really legs. She looked upand saw a fierce face with beady eyes bending over her. A yellow beak snapped open and shut, and ared topknot bobbed up and down. The antguessed at once what it was.

“El Gallo!” explained the little red ant. “Por fovor…” the ant begged the rooster. “please… don’t eat me!” “Ants taste HORRIBLE!” squawked ElGallo. “Then will you carry my crumb ofcake for me?” “I’m too busy.” Therooster cocked his head. “Did you saycake?” “SI,” said the little red ant.“Yes.” “Cake tastes DELICIOUS!” crowedEl Gallo. “I shall eat your crumbmyself!” “But…” the ant began. “Where is it?” The rooster ran about in circles. “Awk!” he screeched suddenly. “Listen!” “To what?” asked the ant. “To that dreadful noise! It’s the chicken-chaser!Awk!” Flapping his wings, the rooster flew up and over the cornstalks.

The ant was glad to El Gallo go before he found her greatbig crumb. “Lucky me,” said the littlered ant, and hurried on her way. She hadnot gone very fay when she came upon something big and bristly. Its nose was pointed to the sky, and thedreadful noise was coming from its mouth. The ant guessed what it was. “El Coyote!” exclaimed the little red ant. “Hola!” the ant shouted to the coyote. “Hello!” El Coyote stopped in the middle of a howl and stared down his nose atthe ant. “Don’t bother me. I’m singing the sun a bedtime song.” The coyote threw back his head, ready to howlagain. “You must be strong to sing soloudly,” said the ant. “Will you carrymy big crumb of cake for me?” “Not now,” said El Coyote. “Maybe tomorrow. Or next week. “But that might be too late!” Suddenly the coyote pricked up his ears, andthe hair o his back stood on end. “Mira! He yelled. “Look! It is the terrible Hombre” El Coyotetucked his tail between his legs and dashed off through the cornstalks.

The little red ant was sad to see him go. Then she shrugged and started on her wayagain. But… Something was moving downthe row toward her. It wore boots on itsfeet and a straw hat on its head. The antguessed at once what it was. “ElHombre!” exclaimed the little red ant.

From far away, the man looked too small to help even anant. But the nearer he came, the largerhe got. Soon he was taller than thecornstalks, and his shadow stretched halfway down the row. He grew so tall that the little red ant couldnot even see the top of his hat.
“Senor!” called the ant. “Please carry my cake for me.” The man did not hear her. He keptwalking. Now the little red ant lookedup and saw something terrifying. Theheel of his huge boot hung over her head. “Alto!” exclaimed the little red ant. “Stop!”

The man did not hear her. He kept walking. So… The littlered ant took a skip and a hop and caught hold of his shoelace. Then she ran up his leg. The man rubbed his knee. So… The red ant and scurried under hisshirt. The man scratched his chest. So…. The little red ant skittered over his shoulders. The man slapped his neck. So… The little red ant crept into hisear. She shouted in her very loudest voice,“HELP ME!” “Yi!” yelled the man. “Tickle bugs!” He shook his head and jumped up and down. The straw hat flew from his head, and thelittle red ant tumbled down on top of it. The man ran across the cornfield, still shouting “TICKLEBUGS!”

The ant watched him go. “Adios, senor,” she called. “Goodbye.” Then she thought ofsomething quite surprising. “I frightenEl Hombre…who scares El Coyote… who chases El Gallo… who wakes El Sol… whowarms El Lagarto… who can blow down an anthill. So… “I AM THE STRONGEST OF ALL!”

The little red ant crawled off the hat. She followed her trail back through thecornstalks, just the way she had come. At last she reached her crumb of cake and pulled off the leaf. “Aah,” said the ant, sniffing. The cake was warm and sticky and smelledsweeter than ever. She took a big, bigbreath. Then, ever so slowly, she liftedthe crumb. She lifted it up and up untilshe could put it on top of her head. Then…

Step by step, inch-by-inch, all by herself, by the light ofthe moon, the ant carried her wonderful cake home to the anthill. She feasted on the crumb all winterlong. And, when springtime came…she wasexactly the same size as her cousins. “Lucky me!” exclaimed La Hormiga, the ant.

GuidedPractice:

• Ask how did the pictures make the story more enjoyable to read?
  
• Ask how did the pictures help you understand the story?
  
• Refer back to the poem “Who Pulled the Plug in My Ant Farm?”
  
• One is told through an ant’s eyes, and one is told through a boy’s eyes. Suppose the main characters in the story and poem changed. What would happen if El Hombre told the story about the little red ant? What would happen if the ants told about their escape from the ant farm?
  
• Direct students to talk about which version they like and why.
  

IndependentPractice:

• Answer questions about story.
  

Name: ___________________________




Answer the questions about The Little Red Ant and theGreat Big Crumb.


1. Where is the setting of the story?



2. Who is the main character?



3. What is the little red ants problem?



4.What does the little red ant want the others to do forher?



5. What do the others do for her?



6. What happens to make the little red ant feel strong?



7. How does the little red ant solve her problem?


Answer Key

Name: ___________________________



Answer the questions about The Little Red Ant and theGreat Big Crumb.


1. Where is the setting of the story?

The story takes place in a cornfield in Mexico.

2. Who is the main character?

The little red ant.

3. What is the little red ants problem?

She thinks she is not strong enough to carry the crumb.

4.What does the little red ant want the others to do forher?

She asks the others to help carry the crumb.

5. What do the others do for her?

They do not help her.

6. What happens to make the little red ant feel strong?

She scares the man away so that makes her feel thestrongest.

7. How does the little red ant solve her problem?

She carries the huge crumb herself.




Day 7


LivingThings Depend On Each Other




Procedure:
ExplicitInstruction,

• Tie in the connection of living things depending on each other using map
  
• Read aloud One Hundred Hungry Ants
  
• This book shows the different ways one hundred ants could march to a picnic for example, 2 rows of 50, 4 rows of 25, etc.
  

Re-teaching:

• Make a map connecting information learned about ants
  
• Start with example or elicit student comments
  

IndependentPractice:

• Invite students to write imaginative stories about ants invading a picnic lunch. Have them describe how the ants communicate and work together to carry food back to the ant community.
  

Creepy Crawlies











Culminating Activities:

1. Make ants on a stick using candy, pretzels, and toothpicks showing thecorrect parts. (gumdrops, string licorice, jellybeans, marshmallows, etc.)
2. If available show the movie “The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in ItsPants.”
3. Have students make their own ant farms.
4. Board game “Ant Farm” Uncle Milton’s 1999.

مشكووووووووووووووووووور
بارك الله فيك
وجازاك الله خيرااا
وجعلها في ميزان حسناتك

مشكووووووووووووووووووووووووووووووور