Because ants are so cool, we had to make a sequel to the recent video “The Secret Life of Ants”! Here, we share four facts about ants: Their exceptional strength, expert teamwork, unique communication strategies, and how they can become zombies! #steminasl
A special thank you to Liz Carlin for creating the script!
[Video Description: Barbara, a white woman wearing a long-sleeved black shirt, is standing in front of a gray background.
04:48 – A full screen image: This video is sponsored by RIT/NTID Regional STEM Center. Below is a logo of RIT on the left with National Technical Institute for the Deaf on the right.]
Transcript: Today, I will share four cool facts about ants! 1) Why are ants so strong? You may already be familiar with the idea that ants can lift 20x their own body weight. For a human, this would be like lifting a car or rhinoceros! Why are ants are so much stronger than humans (relative to their size)? Our muscles have a lot of work to do just supporting our internal skeletons and moving our bodies around. While ants’ bodies are small and light and they do not have internal skeletons, only a hard exoskeleton. Which means much more of their muscle power can be harnessed to lift and carry objects. When they work together, they can carry even larger and heavier loads. 2) Why are ants social? One big reason that ants have been so successful in a variety of habitats is because they are social insects. Within a colony, different types of ants may have different social roles and take on different tasks. They can also work together to solve problems. I will share three examples of how ants work together. Ants can swarm intruders that are much larger than they are and paralyze them before killing and eating them. They can even form rafts out of their own bodies in order to cross rivers or survive floods. They can also organize themselves into bridges and even temporary homes. 3) How do ants communicate? Chemical messaging is one of the ways they can communicate with each other. Ants have glands that produce chemicals called pheromones. They secrete these chemicals into the air or onto the ground to send different kinds of signals to other ants, like “Follow me, food this way,” or “INTRUDER ALERT!,” or “Help, I’m stuck!” Sometimes chemical messaging can go wrong! A group of ants can get separated from the main trail, and get stuck following each other in a circle. This often resolves itself, but sometimes the ants will keep marching around and around until they die of exhaustion. 4) Can fungus control ants? There is a species of fungus that infects ants and takes control of their bodies. The fungus finds its way underneath the ant’s exoskeleton and begins to consume soft tissue. Shortly after, by unknown mechanisms, it causes the ant to leave its colony. The ant then finds a leaf, bites it with a “death grip,” and dies. A few days later, the fungus releases spores to infect more ants. Some ant species have learned to recognize infected mates and will carry them far away to protect the rest of the colony.
#STEMinASL #deaf #stemeducation #stem
