The Tiny Teacher

The tiny teacher itself depicts the dedication of the smallest creature towards their duties assigned them to perform in a very sincere way. Being the hard working and intelligent creature, they perform their duties in the form of cleaners, nurses, workers, soldiers and trainers.

Summary

The story of an ant’s life is too remarkable to be true. An ant is the smallest and the wisest creature that we have seen. Ants have comfortable homes. Each home has hundreds of little rooms and passages. In some of these rooms the queen ant lays eggs. Others are nurseries for the young ants. Workers have their reserved quarters. Some rooms serve as storehouses for food. Soldiers have separate barracks. Ants in a house never quarrel with each other. Each ant does its share of work intelligently and bravely. So the ants lead a very peaceful life. We know so many other facts about ant’s life. People have kept ants as pets. They have watched their daily behavior closely. An ant uses its feelers or antennae to talk to or to greet other ants. There are many kinds of ants. The commonest among them are the black or red ones. The queen ant is the mother of the entire population of ants of a colony. It has a pair of wings. After its wedding flight, it gets rid of its wings. After that it does nothing but lay eggs. Eggs hatch and grubs come out. Grubs take two or three weeks to become cocoons. Cocoons take three more weeks to become perfect ants. Thus it takes five or six weeks for a grub to become a complete a When the eggs become grubs, soldiers guard them. Worker ants carry the grubs about for airing, exercise and sunshine. New ants are trained for the jobs of workers like soldiers, builders, cleaners etc. After a few weeks’ training, the small ants are ready to go out for work. Creatures other than the ants also live in the anthill. These are beetles, lesser breed of ants and the greenfly. Some of them give smell pleasant to the ants; others give various juices, and some are just pets or playthings. The ants train greenfly to give honeydew. They milk it just as we milk the cow. Man can learn many things from the ant, the “tiny teacher”. Hard work, sense of duty, discipline, cleanliness and care for the young ones are some of them. Above all an ant has firm loyalty to the land where it lives. Hard work is easy to see as each ant does its duty most regularly. Sense of duty and discipline are the most important qualities of an ant’s life. That is why, the ants of a colony are never seen to fight each other. All ants together take care of the young ones. Queen ant lays the eggs and soldiers guard the grubs. Workers feed and clean them. They also carry them about for airing, exercise and sunshine. New ants are taught by the old ones.

 

Comprehension Check

1. The story of an ant’s life sounds almost untrue. The italicised phrase means (i) highly exaggerated. (ii) too remarkable to be true. (iii) not based on facts.

 Ans: (ii) too remarkable to be true.

2. Complete the following sentences. (i) An ant is the smallest, ....... (ii) We know a number of facts about an ant’s life because.......

Ans: (i) An ant is the smallest, the commonest and the wisest insect. (ii) We know a number of facts about an ant’s life because people have kept ants as pets and have watched their daily behaviour closely.

3. In what ways is an ant’s life peaceful?

Ans: An ant’s life is peaceful because each does it`s work intelligently and bravely and never fights with other members of its group. Each member has a designated place to stay and a definite work to do. a soldier ant never goes out to search for food and similarly a worker never enters the domain of a soldier ant. No worker or soldier has ever harmed any grub. Each one loyally and diligently does his duty and relentlessly carries on with their work peacefully. They know sharing and contribution and do not interfere in each other’s work.

Comprehension Check

1. How long does it take for a grub to become a complete ant?

Ans: It takes two or three weeks for a grub to become a cocoon. After another three weeks the cocoon breaks and a complete ant appears.

2. Why do the worker ants carry the grubs about?

Ans: The worker ants carry them about daily for airing, exercise and sunshine.

3. What jobs are new ants trained for?

Ans: The new ants are trained as workers, soldiers, builders, cleaners, etc.

4. Name some other creatures that live in anthills.

Ans: Some other creatures that live in anthills are beetles, lesser breeds of ants, and the greenfly.

5. Mention three things we can learn from the ‘tiny teacher’. Give reasons for choosing these items.

Ans: Though ants are very small and unassertive they are undoubtedly great teachers for our life. We can learn team work as ants do their work by sharing and contributing without interfering in each other`s work. We can learn hard work as ants spend their most of time in doing their respective jobs without hesitation. We can learn loyalty, power of cohesive work and discipline as ants live a disciplined life and always follow the rules of their group and are loyal towards it.

 

Exercise Discuss the following topics in groups.

1. (i) What problems are you likely to face if you keep ants as pets? (ii) When a group of bees finds nectar, it informs other bees of its location, quantity, etc. through dancing. Can you guess what ants communicate to their fellow ants by touching one another’s feelers?

Ans: 1.(i) We may face several problems in keeping ants as pets. They are too tiny to keep a watch on. They may bite and cause an itchy skin. Making a suitable and a safe home for them would not be practically possible. (ii) Ants appear to greet each other when they move in a single file but actually they touch the feelers of each other to inform them about the location of food.

2. Complete the following poem with words from the box below. Then recite the poem. Soldiers live in barracks and birds in ————, Much like a snake that rests in a ————. No horse is able to sleep except in a ————. And a dog lives well, Mind you, only in a ————. To say ‘hi’ to an ant, if you will, you may have to climb an ————. Hole, kennel, nests, anthill, stable

Ans: Soldiers live in barracks and bird in nests, Much like a snake that rests in a hole. No horse is able to sleep except in a stable. And a dog lives well, Mind you, only in a kennel. To say 'hi' to an ant, if you will, you may have to climb an anthill.

 

Moral

The three things that we learn from the tiny teacher are hard work, sense of duty and discipline. Sense of Duty and Discipline- each ant does its share of work intelligently and bravely, and never fight with each other.

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