TED® Extension, Category 1
Digging Ants
Overview
Mensa for Kids' TED Extensions are short, easy-to-use guides that help teachers, parents
and youth use TED talks in a classroom or home setting. They are not written in a lesson
plan format, but they do have a list of discussion questions, all at higher levels of thinking.
Watch the TED talk at:
www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/deborah_gordon_digs_ants.html
THINK ABOUT IT:
1. Dr. Gordon says she wanted to explore “how simple parts of organizations interact
to create the behavior of the whole organization.” Consider your home or school.
Can you think of any ways that the behavior of individuals within your home
influences the entire family or school (or classroom)? How have you personally
influenced your family or school?
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2. What do you think the reserve ants are doing?
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© 2012: This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Edu cation & Research Foundation,
www.mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public. Reproduction and
distribution without modification are allowed. Images, links and linked content ref erenced herein are the
property of the originating entities. The TED talks used in this program are copyright TED Conferences LLC
and distributed under a Creative Commons license for noncommercial and non-derivative use.
3. Dr. Gordon says the ant tunnels look like Hopi Caves. Why do you think that might
be? If you had to design your own home based on the home of some other
creature, which one would it be?
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4. What is making the older colonies more stable than the young ones? Can you think
of anything that is less stable as it ages? More stable?
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5. Dr. Gordon says that one interesting thing about the ant colonies is that there is no
central control – no one ant, even the queen, is directing the colony. Can you think
of any other large organization that is like that? What would happen if our country
operated like that?
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6. What do you think signals the winged females to leave the old colony and form a
new one?
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© 2012: This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Edu cation & Research Foundation,
www.mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public. Reproduction and
distribution without modification are allowed. Images, links and linked content ref erenced herein are the
property of the originating entities. The TED talks used in this program are copyright TED Conferences LLC
and distributed under a Creative Commons license for noncommercial and non-derivative use.
7. Why do you think the queen never comes out of the mound again? Would you want
to be the queen?
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8. Think about the task allocation (foraging, patrolling, nest maintenance, midden ants)
within the colony. Which task would you want to do?
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9. If you could be one of Dr. Gordon’s assistants, what would you want to research?
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10. The study of ant taxonomy is called myrmecology. An organism that lives with ants
is called a myrmecophile (ant lover). Can you think of any other insects or animals
that could benefit from living near ants?
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Page 3
© 2012: This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Edu cation & Research Foundation,
www.mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public. Reproduction and
distribution without modification are allowed. Images, links and linked content ref erenced herein are the
property of the originating entities. The TED talks used in this program are copyright TED Conferences LLC
and distributed under a Creative Commons license for noncommercial and non-derivative use.
DO IT:
 Raise ants. Ant habitats (called formicariums) aren’t just made of sand anymore!
NASA developed a gel that feeds the ants and can be lit up in cool colors. Two
reputable names are Antworks by Fascinations and Uncle Milton.
 Take a close-up picture of an ant (or look at a drawing of one). Compare the
structure of the ant to two other insects. How are they alike? How are they different?
 Write a story or comic strip about a queen ant who leaves her old colony in search
of a new home.
 Design a task allocation chart for your family as if your family were an ant colony.
READ ABOUT IT:
Ant by Rebecca Stefoff (young readers)
The Ant Book and See-Through Model by Luann Colombo (young readers)
Ant Cities by Arthur Dorros (young readers)
Ants by Elaine Pascoe (young readers)
Ants at Work: How an Insect Society is Organized by Deborah Gordon (advanced readers)
Journey to the Ants: A Story of Scientific Exploration by Bert Hölldobler (advanced
readers)
The Life and Times of the Ant by Charles Micucci (young readers)
Looking at Ants by Eleanor Christian (how to keep an ant farm for young readers)
The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in its Pants by Linda Beech (young readers)
The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies by Bert
Hölldobler
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© 2012: This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Edu cation & Research Foundation,
www.mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public. Reproduction and
distribution without modification are allowed. Images, links and linked content ref erenced herein are the
property of the originating entities. The TED talks used in this program are copyright TED Conferences LLC
and distributed under a Creative Commons license for noncommercial and non-derivative use.
WATCH IT:
The Lives of Ants & Bees for Students: Ant Homes and Communities (available through
the Discovery Channel store at http://store.discoveryeducation.com/product/show/51846)
NOVA: Ants: Little Creatures who Run the World
SURF IT:
 Dr. Gordon’s Lab: www.stanford.edu/~dmgordon/
 General, thorough site about ants: www.antcolonies.net/
 Ant photo gallery: Gakken Photo Encyclopedia Ants
http://ant.edb.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/INTRODUCTION/Gakken79E/title.html
 Information about ants for younger children:
http://home.att.net/~B-P.TRUSCIO/STRANGER.htm
 Myrmecological News — a scientific journal about ants:
http://myrmecologicalnews.org/cms/
A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO YOU FROM DR. GORDON:
Watching ants is fun because they do strange, surprising things. Please get in touch if you
have questions about ants: [email protected].
Best,
Deborah
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© 2012: This lesson plan is the property of the Mensa Edu cation & Research Foundation,
www.mensafoundation.org. It is provided as a complimentary service to the public. Reproduction and
distribution without modification are allowed. Images, links and linked content ref erenced herein are the
property of the originating entities. The TED talks used in this program are copyright TED Conferences LLC
and distributed under a Creative Commons license for noncommercial and non-derivative use.