One Hundred Hungry Ants

Author: Elinor J. Princzes

Publisher/Date: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1993

ISBN: 0-395-63116-5

Grade Levels Recommended for Use: 6-8

Brief Summary: One hundred hungry ants are off to sample the delicious foods of a nearby picnic. They are moving so slow that one ant suggests lining up in two rows of 50 to get there faster. Soon they are traveling in rows of 25 and so on leading to multiplication arrays and division.

Topics: Measurement, multiplication arrays, division, converting units, money

Suggested Activities:

1. Divide students into groups of four. Each group will have a box of 100 manipulatives or graph paper. Students will then work together to divide the manipulatives into patterns of equal division. Example: 50 groups of 2, 10 groups of 10 and so forth. How many groups can they find? What does it mean if a groups doesn't work out evenly?

2. The littlest ant thought dividing up into various groups would get the swarm to the picnic quicker. Divide students into two groups and have them debate the pros and cons of that concept.

3. The swarm of hungry ants must travel over a field to get to the picnic. Have students research how many miles per hour an ant can travel, then calculate the time it would take an ant to travel a predetermined distance such as from the classroom to the gym.

4. Have students calculate the distance from the classroom door to several "picnic" sites that have been set up outside. Determine the stride of each student and how many paces they need to cover the given distance.

5. Devise a booklet that shows how a dollar can be divided into halves several times. One dollar is equivalent to two 50-cent pieces and four quarters. Challenge students to come up with other money bills that can be divided equally.