CATCHING A WEB

AGES: 8 and up
PROJECT: Preserving a spiderweb
GOAL: To see the intricacy of a spiderweb

MATERIALS

Newspaper
Black spray paint that does not contain fluorocarbons
White poster board or mat board
Scissors

Few structures in nature rival the delicacy of the spiderweb, and none are both so delicate and so strong. This activity will allow you and your children to capture a web and take it home with you.

In your backyard or a nearby field, search for a web that is abandoned or that has no visible occupant (early morning is a great time to go web hunting, because the dew will be clinging to webs). When you find one, look for its anchor lines. Have your child hold up a piece of newspaper behind the web to protect the surrounding plants while you spray paint both sides of the web. Start at the center of the web, and move outward, spraying in a spiral. Holding the poster board firmly, move it toward the web. As it contacts the web surface, hold it steady until the entire web has stuck to the board, then cut the web's "guy" lines to free it. Let the paint dry for several minutes before touching.

ON THE TRAIL

AGES: 6 and up
PROJECT: Tricking a column of marching ants into changing direction
GOAL: To demonstrate how ants follow a chemical trail to find food

MATERIALS

Piece of paper

Ants present such an orderly, industrious spectacle as they go about their work that kids can watch them for hours, fascinated by their group activity. How, kids might wonder, can ants unerringly find a picnic and let all their friends know exactly where it is? Here is the answer: When one ant locates food, it takes a taste and returns immediately to the nest, laying down a chemical trail of pheromones as it goes. The pheromones excite the other ants, who then follow the trail back to the food supply. As each ant makes the trip, it adds to the pheromone trail, until quite a strong scent path is laid down on the ground.

To show your children how this works, take a piece of paper outside and scout around until you find a trail of ants crossing a sidewalk or pathway. Slide the paper under the ants, taking care not to crush any as you do so. For a brief moment, the ants will be confused, but they should reconnect their trail fairly quickly and resume their direction of travel. Allow the ants to travel back and forth over the paper for a few minutes until you think a good scent path has been laid down. Then, swivel the paper 90 degrees and watch the ants go marching off in the wrong direction.