Measurement (time): Leafcutter Ants
Challenge Level ⭐⭐⭐
(designed for children with prior knowledge of the Year 4 and Year 5 programme of study)
Learning Objective
We are learning how to solve a natural world problem by using and applying our skills and knowledge of measurement, time and distance; number and multiplication.
Useful prior knowledge:
- To identify and understand units of speed e.g. metres per minute
- To multiply by 10, 100, 1,000
Credit: BBC One - The Green Planet
Clip Description
Rainforest dwelling leafcutter ants work together in the thousands, carving up and carrying pieces of the bixa tree across the rainforest floor to feed an underground fungus. In return, the ants get all the nutrition they need from the fungus.
In this fascinating clip, we learn how the bixa tree fights back. The ants are used as double agents – made to carry leaves that are coated in a deadly chemical. How will this affect the ants? Watch the clip to find out.
Quick Whiteboard Challenge
A leafcutter ant can lift a leaf fragment that weighs up to 10 times its own body weight.
If a leafcutter ant weighed 0.005g, what is the weight of the heaviest leaf that it can carry?
What is the maximum weight that 100 ants can carry?
What might you be able to carry if you had a leafcutter ant’s superpower strength?