QUESTIONS FOR STUDENT EVALUATION
Unit II

The questions presented below range from easy to difficult. Select questions that are most appropriate for your students and, if necessary, modify the questions so they will be more useful in your situation. Answers are in italics.

1. Where do ant lions build their pits for catching prey?
2. 
   
   
   1. a dry sandy area
   2. a moist, leafy area with lots of insects
   3. at the edge of a pond or lake
   4. all of the above

   
   
   

3. Explain why you would not find ant lions in muddy soil.
4. 
   
   Ant lions would not be able to move backward easily through muddy soil or build pits to catch their prey. The pit wouldn't work in muddy soil because the slope would not be slippery and the trapped insect could get out.
   
   
5. What are the benefits of using a pit to capture prey? What are the disadvantages?
6. 
   
   Ant lions can stay hidden in the pit, safe from predators, and don't waste a lot of energy trying to hunt down and capture prey. However, they might have to wait a very long time for an insect to fall into their pit and may have to relocate their pit. Ant lions must also rebuild their pits if rain or wind destroy them.
   
   
7. Some of the animals that live in the sand of Florida scrub live no where else on Earth. One of these animals is:
8. 
   
   
   1. raccoon
   2. opossum
   3. deer
   4. sand skink
   5. all of the above

   
   

9. True or False (T or F)
10. 
    
    
    1. Some kinds of young ant lions build pits to capture other insects to eat. T
    2. Adult ant lions have wings and only come out during the day. F
    3. Ant lions have forward pointing hairs that help keep them anchored in the sand. T
    4. Ant lions build their pits using their strong back digging feet. F
    5. The ant lion must keep its pit clean in order to catch prey. T
    6. Ant lions protect themselves from predators by being camouflaged and "playing dead." T

    
    

11. Ant lions and scrub burrowing wolf spiders are called ambush predators. Describe how they catch their prey.
12. 
    
    Ant lion: digs a pit and waits for an insect to fall in then grabs the prey and sucks out its body fluid. Burrowing wolf spider: stays in its burrow until the prey walks by then jumps out, grabs the prey, and sucks out its body fluid.
    
    
13. Match the scrub animal on the left with its adaptation for living in the sand on the right.
14. 
    
    

    a. ant lion larva	___ is nocturnal and often lives in a gopher tortoise burrow (d)
    b. pygmy mole cricket	___is nocturnal and mixes sand with silk to support its burrow entrance (e)
    c. sand skink	___has a tiny, hairy head with long, curved jaws that help it catch its prey (a)
    d. Florida mouse	___has see-through lower eyelids and "swims" under the sand (c)
    e. scrub burrowing wolf spider	___has specialized digging feet and wings, but cannot fly (b)
    f. ant	___lives in colonies and uses chemical signals to communicate (f)

    
    

15. Some kinds of scrub burrowing wolf spiders live in open sand and some live in leaf litter. Draw a line from the phrases on the left to the kind of spider or burrow it describes.
16. 
    
    

    silk is used to support the burrow entrance silk and leaves are woven together to make collar around the entrance spider can hide in the leaves to hunt spider can see prey at a distance spider is white and blends in spider is brown and blends in found close to trees shrubs or in the grass found in open, sunny areas

    sand spider & burrow leaf litter spider & burrow

17. Circle the correct underlined word. An ant colony is like a big family. The queen/king rules all the workers. All the workers are sisters/brothers. When the ant colony gets too big, they produce males and new queens/females and new kings.
18. Ants use chemicals to communicate with each other. Put a "T" beside all the statements below that describe ways ants use chemicals to communicate.

___a. alarm calls (T)

___b. scent trails (T)

___c. recruit helpers (T)

___d. dig tunnels



19. Ants can defend themselves in many ways. List 3 ways in which some ants protect themselves and their colony.

By tasting bad, biting, stinging, fighting other animals, blocking their colony entrance, and by using alarm calls.

20. List at least 4 adaptations that an animal would need to live in Florida scrub.
1. specialized digging feet or legs
2. heavy armor to protect against abrasive sand
3. see-through lower lid to protect eyes while moving through sand
4. hairs to protect skin or exoskeleton from coarse sand grains
5. wingless (wings would be damaged while moving in sand)
6. hard covering to protect wings from sand?
7. specialized baskets of hairs to carry excavated (too hard) sand
8. no ears openings that could fill up with sand
9. any other, reasonable, even imaginary adaptation
21. 
    
22. Design an imaginary animal well adapted to live and burrow in the Florida scrub. What would this animal need to make its home? Find food? Protect itself from predators?