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World's fastest ant like 580kph human
PRINT ALL READINGS (PDF)World's Fastest Ant - Level 0
The Saharan silver ant is the world's fastest ant. It runs at 3kph. This is the ant speed of us running 580kph. The ant runs 108 times its body length every second. It makes up to 50 strides a second. An Olympic runner makes four strides a second. The ants' feet touch the ground for just seven milliseconds between strides.
The silver ant runs fast because the sand can be 60 degrees Celsius. It doesn't want to spend time on the sand. They will sink a little and slow down if they spend too long on the sand. Their speed stops their feet sinking into the soft sand. Nobody knew how fast the ants really are, and how they can run so fast.
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World's Fastest Ant - Level 1
Scientists said the Saharan silver ant is the world's fastest ant. It runs at just over 3kph. This is the ant speed of a person running 580kph. It runs 108 times its body length every second. It makes up to 50 strides a second. This almost breaks the limits of what is possible for a living thing. An Olympic 100-meter runner makes four strides a second. The ants' feet touch the ground for a very short time - just seven milliseconds before they take the next stride.
The silver ant runs fast because the desert is hot. The sand can be 60 degrees Celsius. The ant doesn't want to spend time on the hot sand. Also, the ants will sink a little and slow down if they spend too long on the sand. A professor said the ants' feet move so fast because of their sandy habitat. Their fast speed stops their feet sinking into the soft sand. He said nobody knew how fast the ants really were, and how they could run so fast.
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World's Fastest Ant - Level 2
Slowest
Scientists have found the world's fastest ant - the Saharan silver ant. It runs at just over 3kph. This is the ant speed of a human running 580kph. The ant runs 108 times the length of its own body every second. An Olympic 100-meter runner runs using 4 strides a second. The Saharan silver ant uses up to 50 strides a second. Scientists say this movement almost breaks the physical limits of what is possible for a living thing. The ants' feet make contact with the ground for a very short time - just seven milliseconds before they take the next stride.
The silver ant runs so fast because it lives in the hot desert. The sand can reach temperatures of 60 degrees Celsius. The ant doesn't want to spend time with its feet on the hot sand. Another reason is that if the ants' feet spend a long time on the sand, they will sink a little and slow them down. A professor wrote about why the ants' feet move so fast. He said it could be because of the sand dune habitat. Their fast speed could stop the ants' feet sinking into the soft sand. He said: "We knew these ants would be fast, but nobody knew how fast exactly, and how they would achieve that speed."
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11 online activities | 8-page printable (PDF)
World's Fastest Ant - Level 3
Scientists have discovered the world's fastest ant. It is the Saharan silver ant. It runs at a speed of just over 3kph, but that is the same ant speed as a human running 580kph. The ant runs 108 times the length of its own body every second. This is quicker than an Olympic 100-meter runner. The world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, ran the 100 meters using 4 strides a second. The Saharan silver ant uses up to 50 strides a second. The scientists say this much movement almost breaks the limits of what is physically possible for a living thing. Each of the ants' feet makes contact with the ground for a very short time. The ants' feet touch the ground for just seven milliseconds before they take the next stride.
The scientists said the Saharan silver ant runs so fast because it lives in the hot desert. The sand can reach temperatures of up to 60 degrees Celsius, so the ant wants to spend as little time as possible with its feet on the scorching ground. Another reason is that if the ants' feet spend a longer time on the sand, they will sink a little and slow the ant down. Professor Harald Wolf wrote about why the ants' feet move so fast. He said: "These features may be related to the sand dune habitat. They could prevent the ants' feet from sinking too deeply into the soft sand." Professor Wolf told CNN: "We knew these ants would be fast, but nobody knew how fast exactly, and how they would achieve that speed."
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