Ant Cities
This book explains how ants work together to survive in their ant cities. The book describes the different tasks that each ant does in the ant city. Your students will learn many interesting facts about ants, including how to make a simple “ant farm!”
Interested in using this resource in your classroom? Check out the posters that go along with this book: Interdependence, Specialization, Trade and Money.
Author: Arthur Dorros
Published: 2000
Grade Level: K-4
Accelerated Reader Level/Points: .5
Lexile Measure: 600L
Publisher: Harper Trophy
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Comprehension Questions
In economics, what does it mean to be interdependent?
People are interdependent when they depend on each other to provide the goods and services they consume.
In what way does an ant city illustrate interdependence?
The ants in an ant city specialize in their jobs. In doing so, they all depend on each other for survival.
What are some of the special jobs/tasks done by the ants?
Queen – lays eggs; Workers – do all the work in the ant city and also fight to protect the nest; New Queens – have wings to fly away and start new ant cities; Males – fly away with new queens to mate, then die.
What would happen if different types of ants didn’t do their special job(s)?
The ants could not survive unless they worked together. All the ants have a special job that helps ensure the survival of the ant city.
What are some of the special jobs in your city or community that people do?
Teachers, plumbers, TV repair people, doctors, factory workers, police officers, store owners, etc. There are countless examples.
How do these people in your community depend on one another?
The people in the community specialize in the jobs they do. Then, they exchange the money they earn and pay others for the goods and services they provide. All of us are interconnected/interdependent in that we rely on others to provide most of the goods and services we consume.
Is it good to be interdependent?
Specializing in production and then exchanging/trading to get the goods and services one wants makes production more efficient, providing society with more goods and services. Generally, this is good for everyone. However, sometimes interdependence can be troublesome. For example, our country relies heavily on oil produced from other countries. In most cases, that is not a problem, but when there is political instability, prices may rise dramatically and our dependence becomes very costly.