TEACH PRESCHOOL SCIENCE
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      • Spider Season
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      • Ways Animals Move
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      • Animals Live in Different Places
      • Metamorphosis and Change in Biology
      • Nocturnal Animals
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      • Exploring Fish
      • Tree Skin Bark
      • Roots Growing Potatoes in Water
      • Stems - Making Daisy and Clover Chains
      • Flowers
      • Digging in the Dirt
    • Life Science People Index >
      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
      • Our Hands
      • Our Feet
      • Fun With Balance
      • Sound Search
      • Sense of Touch
      • Exploring the Sense of Sight
      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Earth and Sky Science Index >
        • Shadow Chasing
        • Sun Effects
        • The Night Sky
        • Kinds of Clouds
        • Dressing for the Season
        • Classifying Rocks
        • Colors of the Rainbow
        • Who Has Seen the Wind?
        • Rain
        • Snow
        • Litter Hunt
        • We Can Take Care of the Earth
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
  • Teaching Notes
  • Links
  • Contact

Collecting Ants


Core Learning Experience + Supplies and Equipment

​Make an ant habitat.  Find an area that has lots of ants, scoop them up along with some dirt or sand, and transfer them to a purchased ant habitat or a clear plastic shoe box and punch air holes into the lid. Stuff cotton into the air holes and securely tape on the lid. Then cover the box with a dark cloth. Once a week, use an eyedropper to place a small about of jelly or honey mixed with water through one of the air holes. Remember to replace the cloth whenever you are not observing the ants. ​

Possible/Expected Discoveries

  • ​​Ants are insects that have 3 body parts (head, thorax, abdomen), 2 antennae and 6 legs.  Some have wings.
  • Ants have antennae, like many insects, to sense their surroundings.  Do we have antennae?  What do we use to feel and understand our surroundings?  (5 senses)
  • Like bees, wasps, and termites, ants live in groups called colonies.  Each ant has a job to do to support the existence of the colony.
  • What do the ants do in their environment? Explore books or your habitat to find this out, and discuss.

Extended Learning and Other Curriculum Areas

  • ​​Draw the outline of an anthill plus a few tunnels for each child.  The children make the ants living there.  Talk about “rooms” for the eggs, the larvae, pupae etc; the queen’s room; the soldiers protecting the nest; the workers, bits of food etc.
  • Finger print ants: dip fingertip in paint or stamp pad.  Print lots of ants with 3 touching body parts.  When dry, add 2 antennae, 6 legs on each.  Do some multiplication: Here we have 3 ants, with 6 legs each.  Let’s count and see how many legs altogether.
  • Make ant headbands with 2 pipe cleaners for antennae.
  • Create an ant with 3 sections of an egg carton.
  • Playdoh ants with toothpicks and pipe cleaners etc for antennae and legs.  Make and “environment” on a paper plate with dirt, leaves, bits of bead etc.
  • Sing “The Ants Go Marching One by One”
Preschool science activities - ants
Picture
Picture

Activity Packs and Printables

Ants counting activity
Ants counting activity $1.50
Ants teaching poster.
Ants teaching poster. Print on cardstock to make into a puzzle.
Ant diagram
Ant diagram

Websites

https://www.kaplanco.com/product/143859/ento-tunnel-town-ant-habitat-kit(purchase an ant habitat)
http://www.themeunits.com/Ants_sci.html
http://research.amnh.org/entomology/social_insects/ants/ant_colony_cycle.html (teacher info and cool photos
Ants theme activities and free printables

Books

Ant Cities by Arthur Dorros
The Little Red Ant and the Great Big Crumb by Shirley Climo
Are You an Ant? By Judy Allen

USEFUL LINKS

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Privacy Policy
This site is sponsored and supported by the preschool themes site www.KidSparkz.com
Activities written by (c) Susan Portman
Pre-K, Kindergarten, First, Second, Third, Homeschooler - TeachersPayTeachers.com
Copyright © 2005-2023 Teach Preschool Science - Permission granted to reproduce for personal educational use only. Commercial copying or selling is prohibited. No part of this resource may be uploaded to, or published on, any other site for any reason.
  • Home
  • Lesson Plans Index
    • Life Science Plants and Animals >
      • Comparing Leaves
      • Exploring Pumpkins
      • Shucking Corn
      • Earthworm Observation
      • Parent and Baby Animals
      • Collecting Ants
      • Spider Season
      • Visit to a Pet Store
      • Living and Non Living Things
      • Animals Come in Many Shapes, Sizes and Colors
      • Ways Animals Move
      • Animals Need to Eat
      • Difference Between Wild and Tame Animals
      • People Can Use Products Provided by Animals and Plants
      • Animal Coverings - Hair, Fur, Feathers, Scales and Skin
      • Animals Live in Different Places
      • Metamorphosis and Change in Biology
      • Nocturnal Animals
      • Egg Science
      • Exploring Fish
      • Tree Skin Bark
      • Roots Growing Potatoes in Water
      • Stems - Making Daisy and Clover Chains
      • Flowers
      • Digging in the Dirt
    • Life Science People Index >
      • Parts of Our Body and How We Use Them
      • Our Heart
      • Our Hands
      • Our Feet
      • Fun With Balance
      • Sound Search
      • Sense of Touch
      • Exploring the Sense of Sight
      • Follow That Scent
      • Stop That Germ!
      • Interesting Tools That Doctors Use
      • We Need Healthy Teeth
      • Keep Those Muscles Moving!
    • Physical Science Index >
      • Blowing Bubbles
      • Magnify!
      • Ways to Measure Time
      • Magnetic Attraction
      • Ramps in Motion
      • Ice Melting
      • Sink or Float a Boat
      • Sponges and water
      • Dropping Things Through the Air
      • Static Electricity
      • Battery Electricity
      • Properties of Soap and Water
      • Weights and Balances
      • How Can Heat Change Things?
      • Tools Can Help Us Do Things
      • Lifting with Levers
      • Earth and Sky Science Index >
        • Shadow Chasing
        • Sun Effects
        • The Night Sky
        • Kinds of Clouds
        • Dressing for the Season
        • Classifying Rocks
        • Colors of the Rainbow
        • Who Has Seen the Wind?
        • Rain
        • Snow
        • Litter Hunt
        • We Can Take Care of the Earth
      • Wheels
      • Predicting How Simple Machines Will Work
      • Computers and Other Devices
      • Discoveries With Straws
      • Different Ways of Making Light
  • Teaching Notes
  • Links
  • Contact