Materials Required:
l 2 glass plates
l 4 wood strips
l Plastic tape
l Cotton
l Shovel
l White cloth
l Sponge
l Sugar water
l Honey
l Black construction paper
The help of one of your parents
Procedure:
This experiment will be great fun during your summer vacation! Build an ant farm, with the help of an adult, from 2 plates of glass and wood strips. The exact measurements will depend on the materials you have on hand, but the sheets of glass should be placed about 1 inch apart.
- With the glass plates 1 inch apart, tape the wood strips around the glass plates, making a rectangular glass and wood container. Do not tape the top wood strip to the glass plates yet.
- Ask one of your parents to drill a hole in the top wood strip. This hole will be used to water the soil—the soil must be kept moist at all times. Plug the hole with some cotton between waterings.
- Dig up an ant hill, including the area around it. Spread the soil on a white cloth to locate the queen. She will be much bigger than the other ants. Place the soil, queen, and other ants inside their new home.
- Place a wet sponge, a tiny, open container of sugar water, and a few drops of honey on top of the soil. Then tape the remaining strip of wood—the one with the hole in it—to the top of your ant farm.
- If you cover the glass with black construction paper for the first two weeks, it will encourage the ants to burrow next to the glass, and you will be able to see their tunnels clearly. You will soon discover many interesting facts about your ants.
This Is What Happens:
You are observing an ant colony. Ants live and work in a society—an organized group of individuals, in which all the members follow rules. An ant society has one queen and many worker ants, and they all have special jobs. Study your ant farm to see the many different jobs the ants perform!
