Bright Eyes and the Acorn The children in Miss Wood's room wanted to learn about ants.
So Friday afternoon she took them to the park to see some ants.
They soon found a little hill of dirt on the ground.
In the middle of the hill was a small round hole.
This hole goes deep into the ground, said Miss Wood.
It is the door to the ants' home.
The ant family has many rooms down under the ground.
The children watched the ants as they went in and out of their little door.
There are many kinds of ants, said Miss Wood.
The ants in this hill are called red ants.
Here are some black ants, too, said Joe.
Do they live with the red ants?
Yes, answered Miss Wood.
Some of the red ants are fierce soldiers.
They often march to the homes of black ants and carry away their eggs.
These soldier ants bring the eggs to their own home.
When the little black ants come out of the eggs, the red ants take care of them.
They teach them to be helpers, too.
How do the black ants help the red ants? asked Jenny.
Black ants are good workers, said Miss Wood.
Some of them keep the ant house clean.
Some take care of the baby red ants and the eggs.
Where do the ants get their food in winter? asked Bobby.
How can they find food when the snow is on the ground?
I know, said Joe.
I read a book about ants.
They have a big room like a store where they bring food in the summer.
When the snow is on the ground...
They get food from their store.
Do the black ants bring in food, too? asked Mary.
Yes, answered Miss Wood.
Here is a little black ant now, said Mary.
How bright her eyes are!
I am going to call her Bright Eyes, and I shall give her my cake-crumbs.
Mary threw her cake-crumbs on the ground near Bright Eyes.
As soon as Bright Eyes found the cake-crumbs, She took one of them in her mouth and ran into the ant hole.
Soon Bright Eyes came back for more crumbs.
Many other ants came with her.
Oh, look, said Jenny.
Bright Eyes has told the other ants about the crumbs.
Here they come to help her.
How strong ants are, said Billy.
Look, Bright Eyes is carrying the biggest piece of all.
It is bigger than she is.
Bright Eyes came out to get the last cake crumb.
I will show you how strong ants are, said Miss Wood.
Let us stop up the door of their house and see what they will do.
So Billy found a big acorn and put it over the hole in the anthill.
When Bright Eyes came to the anthill, she could not find the door, so she walked all around to be sure that she had come to the right place.
Then she ran around and around the acorn.
"'She knows that the acorn is over the door,' said Nancy.
Bright eyes pushed and pulled at the acorn, trying to roll it away.
But it was too heavy.
She could not move it.
"'Now watch and see what she does,' said Miss Wood."
All at once Bright Eyes left the acorn and began to run around in the grass.
A minute later Jack cried, Here come some more ants.
Bright Eyes has told them about the acorn.
The ants ran to the acorn.
They all pushed and pulled together.
The heavy acorn began to move.
Soon it was rolled away and Bright Eyes went in the door.
My, how strong the ants are, said Tom.
If an ant were as big as I am, he could carry an elephant.
The ants are great workers, said Joe.
I read in my book that they are the greatest workers in the world.
Jack said, When I get lazy again, I shall think about Little Bright Eyes and the Big Acorn.
