TYPICAL LESSON PLANS 117 



the jar into your nest, cover it up with glass and board. 

 If you succeed in getting a queen you may have a perma- 

 nent colony. You can tell the queen from the workers by 

 her large size. Without a queen, however, you can keep 

 the ants for several weeks ; long enough for the children to 

 find out many interesting things about them. If you start 

 your nest in the afternoon, by morning the ants will prob- 

 ably be well established in their new home. You may 

 watch them at any time by removing the board and look- 

 ing through the glass. The air must be kept moist in 

 the home or the ants will die. This may be managed by 

 keeping a piece of moist blotting paper or sponge in the 

 home. Have the children feed the ants different things; 

 cake crumbs, bread, bits of fruit, sugar, meat, etc. Place 

 the food near one of the passages and the ants will carry 

 it into the home. Do the ants show any preference for 

 special kinds of food ? Watch how they care for the pu- 

 pae. You will probably find that they move these from one 

 place to another. What effect does the light have on the 

 workers ? 



Besides the observation in the schoolroom, encourage 

 the children to watch ants they may find outside. Give 

 them some simple problems to solve. How many different 

 kinds of ants can you find ? How many feet has an ant ? 

 How does it carry things ? Do you ever find two or three 

 carrying the same object? What does an ant do when it 

 comes to something that blocks its way, as a stick or stone; 

 does it crawl over or go around ? When ants get into your 

 pantry or cupboard do they have a definite path that they 

 follow as they come and go? Watch two ants that meet; 

 what do they do ? You will often find that they touch each 



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