A line of ants marches across the sidewalk toward a dropped cracker.
Rocket crouches. "How did they all find it? Did one ant yell?"
Raven traces the line with her finger, not touching. "Look. They follow the exact same path."
Nova projects a faint cyan trail over the ants. "Ants cannot yell," she says.
"But the first ant left something behind. What could another ant follow?"
Food is hard to find. A group has more searchers, so food is found sooner.
When one ant finds food, it walks home. On the way, it leaves a scent trail.
Other ants smell the trail and follow it straight to the food.
Soon a whole line of ants carries pieces back to the colony.
Honeybees share food too. Bees store nectar as honey inside the hive.
The whole colony eats from that store when flowers are gone.
A flock finds food faster for a simple reason. Many birds search many places at once.
On cold nights, some small birds press close together on a branch.
Each body warms the one next to it. Less heat is lost to the air.
Honeybees do something like this inside the hive in winter.
They crowd together and shiver their muscles to make heat.
A bee alone could not keep warm. Thousands of bees together can.
| Group | Food trick | Warmth trick |
|---|---|---|
| ant colony | scent trail to food | the nest is deep underground |
| honeybee colony | stores honey for all | crowds together and shivers |
| flock | many birds search at once | birds press together on cold nights |
| Statement | True or false? |
|---|---|
| Ants find food by following a scent trail. | ? |
| A bee alone can keep as warm as a whole hive. | ? |
| Honeybees store food that the whole colony can eat. | ? |
| A flock finds food more slowly than one bird. | ? |
Well tracked, explorer! Tomorrow we peek inside a colony to see who does which job.