KIDS AND ANTS ARE GREAT MIX FOR LEARNING SCIENCE

Writer: Lorri Jones, (281) 855-5620,lv-jones@tamu.edu
Contact: Paul Nester, (281) 855-5600,p-nester@tamu.edu

THE WOODLANDS –

– Normally, kids and fire ants don’t mix, but for about 800 elementary students in the greater Houston area, fire ants have been a source of fun, games, activities and science education this spring.

At Buckalew Elementary in The Woodlands, Julie Garrett and Mandy Sadler’s third-grade classes recently completed the KIDzANTS fire ant curriculum by playing “The Ant Detective.” This game takes the student through a matrix of clues, and at each new level the detective is closer to identifying what kind of ant to suspect or if it is another offender, such as a termite.

Paul Nester, Texas Cooperative Extension program specialist coordinating the fire ant program in Harris County, joined the classes for an open discussion about ants.

“‘How do fire ants communicate?’ ‘How many queens can live in one mound?’ – all the questions these kids asked shows they’re curious, and that it’s a topic they find interesting,” he said.

KIDzANTS was developed by three Extension agents working in the statewide fire ant management program, Nester, Nathan Riggs, and Wizzie Brown. The program is flexible so a teacher can use units that last from six days to six weeks.

Using math, science, social studies and language arts, children learn the life cycle of ants, how imported red fire ants arrived and migrated through the United States, how they live, what they eat, how to identify the different species in Texas and what purpose ants serve. The program includes many academic requirements for the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test preparation.

“Ants are something every kid is familiar with,” Garrett said. “There is not one of them who hasn’t been stung, so it creates interest in the subject.”

She described the teaching materials as excellent, from the full-color posters to the cardboard model of an ant the students constructed.

“The students have really enjoyed it and looked forward to it each week,” she said.

Vernon Langston, a field research scientist with Dow AgroSciences, volunteered to help teach the curriculum throughout the semester. Volunteers are essential to the success of the Curriculum Enrichment Program, said Nester.

“Vernon has a great time with the kids, and he knows Extension’s commitment to teaching kids through hands-on experiences,” he said.

For more information about the KIDzANTS curriculum, visit http://fireant.tamu.edu or http://kidzants.tamu.edu.

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