Social insects: ants and bees · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Busy teams: ants and bees

Science · Insects & Minibeasts · ages 7-9
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What job does a guard ant do?

    • Lays eggs for the colony
    • Protects the nest entrance
    • Builds the queen's crown

  2. In a bee hive, whose job is it to lay all the eggs?

    • The queen bee
    • A worker bee
    • A guard bee

  3. Ants and bees each live alone and never work with others.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. Why do ants split up jobs like digging, guarding, and finding food instead of one ant doing everything?

    • So the colony can get more done and survive better
    • Because ants get bored doing one job
    • Because only some ants know how to dig

  5. Look at the picture. Which job has the most insects doing it?

    Queen1Workers9Guards3
    • Queen
    • Workers
    • Guards

  6. Which of these is most like a human sports team sharing out jobs?

    • A bee hive where some bees guard, some build, and some find food
    • A single ant walking alone in a garden
    • A bee flying in circles with no job

  7. A new insect colony has every member trying to do every job (digging, guarding, and feeding) at the same time, with no set roles. What is most likely to happen?

    • The colony works better because everyone helps with everything
    • Nothing changes, because roles do not matter
    • The colony works less well because jobs are not shared out clearly

  8. Zara says a bee hive only needs a queen, because she does all the work herself. What is wrong with her idea?

    • The queen only lays eggs; workers and guards do the rest of the jobs
    • The queen actually builds the whole hive alone
    • Bee hives do not have queens
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Busy teams: ants and bees W1-mt_guaaD6Dn2M-s1

  1. Protects the nest entrance · Guards stand watch at the entrance and keep danger away from the nest.
  2. The queen bee · The queen is the only bee in the hive that lays eggs.
  3. False · Ants and bees live in big groups called colonies or hives, and they help each other.
  4. So the colony can get more done and survive better · Sharing out the jobs means the whole colony works faster and stays safer.
  5. Workers · There are far more worker ants than queens or guards, because there is so much work to do.
  6. A bee hive where some bees guard, some build, and some find food · A team, like a hive, works well because each member has a different job to do.
  7. The colony works less well because jobs are not shared out clearly · Just like a human team, a colony works best when each member focuses on a clear job instead of everyone doing everything at once.
  8. The queen only lays eggs; workers and guards do the rest of the jobs · The queen lays eggs, but workers gather food and build, and guards protect the hive. No hive survives on just one bee.
Worksheet · LightMySky