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Benjamin Franklin thought that ants know how to tell things to one another. He thought that they talk by some kind of signs. When an ant has found a dead fly too big for him to drag away, he will run off and get some other ant to help him. Franklin thought that ants have some way of telling other ants that there is work to do.

One day he found some ants eating molasses out of a little jar in a closet. He shook them out. Then he tied a string to the jar, and hung it on a nail in the ceiling. But he had not got all the ants out of the jar. One little ant liked sweet things so well that he stayed in the jar, and kept on eating like a greedy boy.

At last, when this greedy ant had eaten all that he could, he started to go home. Franklin saw him climb over the rim of the jar. Then the ant ran down the outside of the jar. But when he got to the bottom, he did not find any shelf there. He went all round the jar. There was no way to get down to the floor. The ant ran this way and that way, but he could not get down.

At last, the greedy ant thought he would see if he could go up. He climbed up the string to the ceiling. Then he went down the wall. He came to his own hole at last, no doubt.

After a while he got hungry again, perhaps. He thought about that jar of sweets at the end of a string. Then perhaps he told the other ants. Maybe he let them know that there was a string by which they could get down to the jar.

In about half an hour after the ant had gone up the string, Franklin saw a swarm of ants going down the string. They marched in a line, one after another. Soon there were two lines of ants on the string. The ants in one line were going down to get at the sweet food. The ants in the other line were marching up the other side of the string to go home. Do you think that the greedy ant told the other ants about the jar?

And did he tell them that there was a string by which an ant could get there?

And did he tell it by speaking, or by signs that he made with his feelers?

If you watch two ants when they meet, you will see that they touch their feelers together, as if they said "Good morning!"

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read the story multiple times.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary words.
  • Learn the concepts.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Study the review questions.

Synopsis

Benjamin Franklin learned things by watching the world. Franklin wondered whether ants talked to one another. He used a nail and a string to tie a jar to the ceiling which contained molasses and one ant. The little ant ate some molasses and left the jar. When the ant returned in half an hour, many ants came with him.

Vocabulary

Molasses: A sweet, thick, dark brown syrup obtained from raw sugar.
Greedy: Keeping something all for yourself. Not sharing with others.
Swarm: A large group of insects.
Feelers: Antennae used for touching things or searching for food.
Colony: A group of animals or plants living close together or forming a physically connected structure.

Concepts

When an ant finds food, how does the ant tell other ants where the food is?

  1. Scout ants leave their colony to search for food.
  2. Ants 'smell' food using their antennae.
  3. The scout ant wanders randomly, searching for food with their antennae.
  4. Ants leave a chemical trail behind them as they walk.
  5. When an ant wants to return home to the colony, the ant follows the chemical trail back.
  6. A scout ant finding food takes some back to the colony. The other ants sense the food, and follow the scout ant's chemical trail to the food source.

Source: https://www.quora.com/How-do-ants-sense-food

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

  • After reading or listening to the story, narrate the story events aloud using your own words.

Activity 2: Draw the Story

  • The photo below shows two ants communicating.
  • Study and sketch a copy of the photo.

Activity 3: Color the Story   

  • Click the crayon above, and complete page 13 of 'History Coloring Pages for First Grade.'

Activity 4: Act Out the Story

Pretend to be an ant leaving your colony to search for food.

  • Leave a trail behind you as you search for food. Perhaps leave a trail of Legos, nuts, coins, or dried beans.
  • When you find food, take a little of the food with you and follow your trail back to your colony.
  • Have another 'ant' follow your trail back to the food.

Review

Question 1

What did Franklin want to know about the ants?
1 / 4

Answer 1

Franklin wanted to know whether ants communicate with one another.
1 / 4

Question 2

What did Franklin do with a jar of molasses?
2 / 4

Answer 2

Franklin placed an ant in the jar with the molasses and tied the jar to the ceiling.
2 / 4

Question 3

What did the little ant in the jar of molasses do?
3 / 4

Answer 3

The ant ate some molasses, left the jar, and crawled up the string and over the ceiling.
3 / 4

Question 4

What happened after the little ant left the jar and went back its colony?
4 / 4

Answer 4

The ant communicated to the other ants about the food, and the other ants followed his chemical trail back.
4 / 4

  1. What did Franklin want to know about the ants? Franklin wanted to know whether ants communicate with one another.
  2. What did Franklin do with a jar of molasses? Franklin placed an ant in the jar with the molasses and tied the jar to the ceiling.
  3. What did the little ant in the jar of molasses do? The ant ate some molasses, left the jar, and crawled up the string and over the ceiling.
  4. What happened after the little ant left the jar and went back its colony? The ant communicated to the other ants about the food, and the other ants followed his chemical trail back.

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