Activity to accompany Living It Up in a Fire Ant Nest, Youth Module

Activity: Mound of Trouble Matching Game

• Overview

Like any animal, the fire ant needs a place to live. Students will learn about the construction and organization of a fire ant mound.

• Objectives

The students will learn the three purposes of an ant mound:

- To serve as a flight platform for mating flights

- To raise the colony above the water table in saturated ground

- To act as a passive solar collector (absorb heat from sun) to warm the colony during the winter.

• Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) (other states may have similar systems)

Science

3rd grade: 3.8.a, 3.9.a

4th grade: 4.5.a, 4.6.a, 4.8.a, 4.11.a, 4.11.c

5th grade: 5.6.c, 5.8.a, 5.9.a, 5.9.b, 5.9.c, 5.10.b

• Materials

Mound diagram for labeling and coloring

Game Card Instructions

Blue game cards and picture descriptions

Brown game cards and picture descriptions

Green game cards and picture descriptions

Yellow game cards and picture descriptions

Game poster, printed on the largest size paper available (if necessary, rotate the image before printing)

Game spinner

• Instructions

Before class, cut apart the Mound of Trouble matching cards. (See instructions). You may laminate them if you wish.

In class, have the students label the “mound diagram” and color it; they may add “ant” figures if they wish.

The spinner base is glued to a piece of cardboard, foam core, or in this case, a styrofoam paper plate. Attach the pointer with a straight pin. Image by Kathy Flanders.

Glue the base of the game spinner to a heavier piece of cardboard, foam core, or a styrofoam paper plate. Make a narrow spinner out of card stock or two sheets of paper glued together, then pin it to the base.

Then play the Mound of Trouble Matching Game:

1. Before starting the game, out of sight of the students, place the picture cards face down on the Mound of Trouble Matching Game board. The game board is bordered by four colors: blue, green, yellow and brown. These colors correspond with different areas of the board the blue corresponds with the sky; the green with the vegetation; yellow with the mound; and brown with the rest of the underground area. The matching cards each have a photograph on one side and one of the four colors on the back. There are two cards for each photograph; one is smaller than the other. Place the larger cards face-down on the borders, matching the color of the border to the color on the back of the card. (Example: The larger blue cards go face-down on the blue border.) Place the smaller cards face-down in the area of the board that corresponds to the color on the border. That is, place the small blue cards face-down on the sky, the small yellow cards on the mound, the small green cards on the vegetation and the small brown cards on the underground area that’s not the mound. Spread each set of cards on the corresponding section of board.

Example of an 11 X 17" game poster, with the small and large blue cards positioned on the blue section of the game. Image by Kathy Flanders.

1. Divide the class into two to four teams. If they wish, the students can name their team using a fire ant theme.
2. Place the game board where all can see it.
3. Decide which team goes first, second, etc.
4. The first team spins the spinner, and notes what color it points to.
5. The team turns over one of the cards on the border of the same color. (Example: If the spinner points to green, the students pick a card from the green border.)
6. The team then turns over another picture from the corresponding area of the mound diagram. If the two pictures match, remove both pictures and set them aside. Each time a picture is chosen, the instructor should identify the picture (information is available in the picture descriptions) and give a brief description to reinforce the lesson material already taught to the students.
7. The team then spins the spinner, draws another card and tries to match two more pictures. If the pictures don’t match, replace them face down and the next team draws a card from the deck.

The object is to uncover all the cards from one colored area. It will be up to the instructor to decide whether to stop the game at that point. The game can be continued until all pictures are uncovered. The team with the most matches wins.

• Wrap-up

Discuss the various types of homes or shelters that other animals have. How are they like or unlike a fire ant mound?

The tunnels in mounds are like tiny caves. Ask the students to discuss what types of work they would be able to do if they lived in dark tunnels and could not see. What would they be unable to do?

Note to teachers: You may want to refer to the KIDzANTS Teacher Manual, which is from the original release of KIDzANTS made by Texas AgriLife Extension.

PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK

The fire ant eXtension youth team would love some feedback from your experience. Please contact Paul Nester (p-nester@tamu.edu) with questions, comments, testimonials, and particularly images of your students' accomplishments and the students engaging in this activity. If you send images that include students, please be sure that parental approval has been given to use the image. Most schools routinely have parents sign a photographic release form. If you are unsure whether a permission form has been completed, you can use this form and send it along with the image: Photography Release Form