The story of an ant's life sounds almost untrue. The italicized phrase means
(i) highly exaggerated.
(ii) too remarkable to be true.
(iii) not based on facts
Something which sounds untrue may or may not be true factually, hence ‘not based on facts’ can‘t be the answer. Even an unexaggerated thing can sound untrue. (ii) is the correct answer.
Complete the following sentences.
(i) An ant is the smallest,______
(ii) We know a number of facts about an ant's life because_____
(i) commonest, but the wisest insect.
(ii) people have kept ants as pets, and have watched their daily behavior closely.
In what ways is an ant's life peaceful?
An ant's life is peaceful because each does its share of work intelligently and bravely, and never fights with other members of the group.
How long does it take for a grub to become a complete ant?
It takes about two to three weeks for a grub to become a cocoon. The cocoon breaks after three more weeks and a complete ant appears.
Why do the worker ants carry the grubs about?
The worker ants carry the grubs to feed and clean them. They also take them for airing, exercise and sunshine daily.
What jobs are new ants trained for?
The new ants receive a week’s training to learn the duties as workers, soldiers, builders, cleaners, etc. from their old ants.
Name some other creatures that live in anthills.
Some other creatures that live in anthills are - beetles, lesser breeds of ants and the greenfly.
Mention three things we can learn from the 'tiny teacher'. Give reasons for choosing these items.
The most important thing that we, humans, must learn from the ‘tiny teacher’ is to work without fighting. Each ant does its work religiously and doesn’t poke its nose in other’s work. They have well-defined duties and each ant plays its role efficiently. The ants are hard working as they spend most of their time searching for food and doing their share of work intelligently and bravely. All ants have a sense of duty and discipline, cleanliness and care for their young ones. This can also be observed in the way they teach and train the young ones. We must learn from them the art of working together in harmony and doing our own chores responsibly.
Besides this, they have a firm loyalty to the land where they live which is what we, all humans, must learn from them.
What problems are you likely to face if you keep ants as pets?
We are likely to face many problems is we keep ants as pets. Some of them are:
(i) They may fall in our food and cause many health problems.
(ii) They may eat and destroy our raw eatables like sugar, vegetables, fruits, sweets etc.
(iii) They may bite us. An ant bite is harmful especially for new-born babies.
(iv) Lizards eat ants so the number of lizards may increase at home.
When a group of bees finds nectar, it informs other bees of its location, quantity, etc. through dancing. Can you guess what ants communicate to their fellow ants by touching one another’s feelers?
The ants may communicate the location of the food, danger in their way and the need of soldier ants. They may talk about the arrival of other ants from opposite direction or about the development of the young ants and their daily training.
Complete the following poem with words from the box below. The recite the poem.
Soldiers live in barracks
And birds in _________,
Much like a snake that rests
In a ____________. No horse is able
To sleep except in a _____________.
And a dog lives well,
Mind you, only in a__________.
To say 'hi' to an ant, if you will,
You may have to climb an ____________.
The words given in options are hole, kennel, nests, anthill and stable. All these words represent the place of living of some or the other animal, so the blanks need to be filled in accordingly.
The first blank needs a word which can describe where the birds live, which is nest, hence nests can be filled in the first blank.
A snake rests in a hole, hence the second blank should be filled by the word ‘hole’. A horse lives in a stable, hence the third blank should be filled by ‘stable’. A dog lives in a kennel, hence the fourth blank should be filled by ‘kennel’. An ant lives in an anthill, so the last blank should be filled by ‘anthill’.