Ants and Plants Event
To spread interest in science and raise awareness about our research, we hosted an "Ants and Plants" outreach event in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club. Children ages 12-15 attended as part of their summer camp activities. The event took place at Chenango Valley State Park and featured three interactive stations.
At the first station, we brought three live ant colonies to demonstrate myrmecochory—the mutualism between ants and plants that rely on them for seed dispersal. The children observed the ants transporting seeds and even recorded data on the ants’ behavior, gaining hands-on experience with scientific observation.
At the first station, we brought three live ant colonies to demonstrate myrmecochory—the mutualism between ants and plants that rely on them for seed dispersal. The children observed the ants transporting seeds and even recorded data on the ants’ behavior, gaining hands-on experience with scientific observation.
At the second station, we led a fun (and tasty) activity where kids created pudding cups with toppings that represented different features of a forest ecosystem and myrmecochory. Nerds candies stood in for ants, Tootsie Rolls represented logs where ants establish their nests, chocolate pudding and crushed oreos were different soil layers, spearmint leaves were plants, gummy candies symbolized slugs, and matcha Pocky sticks served as trees.
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Exploring Science Through Gaming
As part of our community outreach efforts, an undergraduate researcher in the Prior lab developed a video game that illustrates the concept of ant-mediated seed dispersal (myrmecochory) in a fun and interactive way. Players take on the role of an ant, exploring the forest, collecting seeds of different wildflowers, and bringing them back to their nest to score as many points as possible before seeds run out in the summer months. The game debuted at our Ants and Plants outreach event.
