Social insects: ants and bees
Social insects: how ants and bees live and work together in colonies. Queens, workers, and drones. Division of labour — some gather food, some build, some guard. Ant tunnels and bee hives as organised homes. Parallels to human teamwork.
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe at least two different roles within an ant colony or bee hive such as queen, worker, or guard
- Explain that social insects live together in large groups and divide up the jobs needed to survive
- Compare an ant colony or bee hive to a human team, describing how different members do different tasks
The lesson
Some insects do not live alone. Ants and bees live together in a huge family group called a colony, or in a bee's case, a hive. Every insect inside has its own job to do.
Deep underground, a worker ant finds a crumb of bread and carries it home. Other worker ants dig new tunnels. Guard ants stand at the entrance, ready to stop a spider that comes too close. Inside, the queen lays eggs all day. Every ant has a different job, but together they keep the whole colony alive.
Think of a hive like a football team. The goalkeeper does not also try to be the striker. Everyone sticks to their own job, and the team works because each part does its part.
Ants and bees live in big groups where the queen lays eggs, workers do the work, and guards keep watch, just like a team.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.