To conduct further studies indoors, dig up part of an ant hill and place the contents in a large pan or bucket. Remove the neck and shoulder of a clear 2-liter bottle and spoon a quantity of ants and dirt inside. Spread a collar of vaseline around the outside edge of the opening to help prevent the ants from escaping. Cover the outside of the container with black construction paper held in place by rubber bands to stimulate darkness. The ants will create tunnels along the outer walls, visible when the black paper is removed.
Another precaution to prevent the ants from escaping into the room is to place the container in a pan of water. Place a file folder with a hole punched in the center on top of the container; the ants can move about the container and emerge onto the file-folder platform.
Encourage students to make observations, formulate hypotheses to answer some of their questions, take variables into account, record their results quantitatively in chart and graph form, repeat procedures a number of times, draw conclusions, and summarize their activities. Frequently, the natural curiosity of students is piqued by something in the procedure which leads them to further, or extension activities.
While conducting these extended activities, students may discover they are doing original research with a particular species of ant, and they enjoy the exciting experience of doing "real" science. After spending a week of observation and experimentation, students should return the ants to the area from which they were removed.
Bees
Bees may be collected in the field, obtained from bee keepers, or ordered from science supply houses. They may be stored in a freezer until needed. To begin, place a frozen specimen in a petri dish (one for each pair of students) and ask the students to write 10 observations of the bee. Some common observations include noting that bees have 6 legs, 4 wings, compound eyes, antennae, hairy bodies, jointed legs, claws at the end of the legs, and 3 body divisions.
After the students share their observations, ask them to read resource information about bees. Students should then answer predetermined procedural questions to make sure all have observed the same structures. Students should look for specific structures including the antenna cleaner, hooks on the wings, the pollen brush, the stinger, the auricle, and the pollen basket. Encourage each student to formulate a hypothesis regarding the function of each structure.
