It's week 2 of the Challenge and an we're still going strong!  Yesterday we spent a good 30 minutes watching the antics of ants and bees.  It's amazing how these tiny creatures keep kids captivated.



A Lesson in Teamwork
Ants and bees both live in a community and each member has a role in the colony (ants) or hive (bees) to keep it alive and thriving.  The communities of both ants and bees revolve around a single queen and every single other bee or ant works to keep the queen happy and healthy.  Each member has a job, and they spend their lives doing that single job without complaint.  Oh, how nice it would be if that was the case in our household!

We See the Workers
The ants and bees we watched were the workers.  They are assigned to food collection, be it pollen (bees) or other insects or seeds (ants).  We investigated this closely with our trusty magnifying glass.  The bees were extracting pollen from the flower and we found two ants working together to drag a dead caterpillar across the driveway.  All were working hard and steadily to take their "groceries" back to the colony and hive.

A Teaching Moment
I jumped on the opportunity of the moment and discussed with my children how they too have a role in their family, just like the ants and the bees.  I explained how they can each do their part to help their family by doing their jobs without complaint or excuses, just like the ants and the bees.  Did it make an impression?  We'll see!

Have you used nature for a teaching moment?  Did it work?  Please share your ideas!