worms!

Our class has been studying worms. We've read lots of books, and here are some of the facts we've learned: Worms have no eyes, ears, teeth, nose, or bones. They have 5 enlarged blood vessels that act like hearts. They have a gizzard to help them digest their food. They are neither male or female but rather a combination of both yet they need a mate to reproduce. They lay an egg sack that contains 1-20 baby worms. Worm casts is another word for worm poop. Worms help the Earth in many ways. They make tunnels which helps plant/tree roots go deeper into the soil. When worms tunnel into the soil, they bring humus (organic material) with them. Their "casts" are great fertilizer! Aren't we glad we have worms?

Here we are preparing our vermicompost bin. We tore newspaper to serve as bedding for our worms. We sprayed the newspaper with water because worms breathe through their skin which has to stay moist.

After we prepared our worm bin, we studied our "red wiggler" worms. We made sure to keep their skin damp by using wet paper towels. We ran a few tests to see if worms prefer light or dark. We found that they like dark spaces!

Though I don't have a picture of this, we used our "Eye Clops" machine to look closely at worm segments. We also took a close look at an egg case that we found. It was amazing!

We are really enjoying learning about worms! We have to make sure that we keep their bin damp, dark, and full of yummy, rotting fruits!

Come back and see us soon.