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Social insects: ants and bees
CONCEPTUALSocial insects: how ants and bees live and work together in colonies. Queens, workers, and drones. Division of labour — some gather food, some build, some guard. Ant tunnels and bee hives as organised homes. Parallels to human teamwork.
Mastery Evidence
- Describe at least two different roles within an ant colony or bee hive such as queen, worker, or guard
- Explain that social insects live together in large groups and divide up the jobs needed to survive
- Compare an ant colony or bee hive to a human team, describing how different members do different tasks
Assessment Prompt
“If [child] watched a nature programme about ants or bees, could they tell you about the different jobs inside the colony — like the queen, the workers, and the guards?”
Prerequisites1
- The insect body planhardAges 7—9
Show full prerequisite tree
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before comparing how they move
- Common minibeasts: naming and recognising hard
Must recognise common minibeasts before studying insect anatomy in detail
Unlocks3
- Insect communication and behaviourhardAges 9—11
- Animal Groups & SurvivalsoftAges 8—9
- Bees and pollinationhardAges 7—9