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Hands On : Insect Behavior Experiments

June 8 - 12

Learn about insect behaviors with these simple experiments

After each test, ask yourself:

Were insects born with this behavior or did they learn it? Could they learn a different way to act?

Materials

Jar for collecting insects

Paper towel

Different kinds pens

Test 1: What traps an ant?

Can you change the movement of an ant using just a pen?

Find two to three ants outside and carefully place them in a jar

Carefully put the first ant on a piece of white paper

Draw a circle around it with a pen and observe what it does

Try making a circle around the ant with different kinds of pens and a pencil. Does the ant react the same way to each kind of pen or pencil?

Try the experiments with another ant. Do they behave in a similar way?

What do you think was happening?

Do you think the ants learned to react to pens like this or is this a behavior they were born with?

Did you see the ants acting differently after a few minutes? If so, why do you think they were changing their behavior?

See a video (
`link`⁠
) of a trapped ant

Test 2: What kind of foods do ants like?

Different animals have different foods that they like. Do you think animals are born liking foods or do they learn to like them? Or is it a little of both? Find out what kind of foods ants like to eat.

Find a group of ants - maybe an ant hill or just a several ants you see outside.

Gather a small piece of different kinds of food: Maybe something sweet, like a grape, something starchy like a potato or piece of bread, something with a lot of protein like a piece of meat, egg or tofu, and something fatty like a piece of avocado

Put each piece of food on a small piece of paper towel an equal distance from the ants

Watch to see which food the ants go to the most. It can take the ant awhile to find the food so visit to check on the food at different times throughout the day to see which food they are eating the most

Do you think the ants were born liking the food they ate the most? Why or why not?