Life Cycle of An Ant Unit Srudy Printables

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When we first began our insect unit study with The Good and the Beautiful’s Arthropods Unit, I knew that ants would be close to the top of the list of fun things for the kids to study. We have had an ant farm before with our older kids, so I knew we were going to have to do that project again. I also really wanted to take things a little further and create some life cycle of an ant unit study printables so we could all learn the ant’s life cycle together. I also created an ant anatomy poster and some of fun things for our science wall!

Life Cycle of an Ant Printables

First, I created a basic life cycle of an ant poster. This poster shows the ant as it begins as an egg, a stage I larva, a stage II larva, a pupa, and finally an adult ant. I had no idea that ants went through that. I guess I assumed they just hatched out of the eggs full grown.

I have a blank ant life cycle poster for students to draw the stages themselves included in this pack.

I decided to include an ant anatomy poster, as well. Ants are excellent specimens to demonstrate the difference between an insect and other creepy crawlies like spiders. It’s also interesting to see that even though they may look so small to our eyes, their bodies are quite complex.

We also learned about the different types of ants that live in a colony. Did you know that male ants have wings so they can fly and mate with the queen. They die soon after. It’s the female ants that work diligently building the home, gathering food, and taking care of the young.

Finally, I found a cute poem called, “My Uncle Had an Ant Farm,” for copywork for the kids. I also included blank notebooking pages for the kids to use to copy their own ant anatomy posters, write interesting facts, and take notes on our ant farm.