On Saturday 11 May 2024, Iimbovane hosted a day programme for a group of 30 young ant enthusiasts from Kayamandi outside Stellenbosch.

The morning started off in the Jan Marais Reserve where the learners, between the ages of 9 and 12, conducted an investigative enquiry where they searched for evidence of ants in the reserve.

It didn’t take them long to realise that it is quite difficult to look for ant tracks and excrement as you would do for larger animals, and so decided they would rather look out for ant nests instead.

A tablet was given to each group of ‘ant investigators’ so they could take pictures of the nests they discovered. The learners were excited to discover that some of the ant nests were active, with a large number of ants scuttling around, and to their astonishment, they also discovered a lot of male ants with wings.

They were quick to identify several ant nests, and a few ant specimens were also gathered from each nest, so that they could be identified in the laboratory. At the laboratory, the learners engaged with an interactive game in the lab to gain an understanding of the life cycle and various casts of an ant colony.

The highlight of the day was seeing their ants under a microscope! Some students loved it, while others gasped at the sight of an up-close view of an ant.

After identifying the body parts, the students had to describe the characteristics of the ants as seen through their microscopes.

A fun and ant-filled day for everyone!

The group of learners form part of the organisation, Lessons in Conservation. Lessons in Conservation is a youth-led organization that seeks to teach the youth of Africa about conservation and the natural world. Follow them on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/lessons.in.conservation/

  Learners investigating the different stages of an ant’s life cycle