First Grade Worm study

 

First Graders adopted an earthworm today to study their structure and movement. Once we concluded our inquiry, we dug holes for them in our Meals on Wheels gardens and watched them move into their new homes.

Who knew what unimaginably different life is lead by such a common animal!  At night, the worms emerge to take a bite of something decaying - like an old leaf.  We got to see the worm expel their soil and digested matter castings.  They can be either a boy or girl when it comes to reproducing.  The collar or clitella, that band around the worm close to the head, is where worm's eggs grow.  When ready, the worm slips out of the collar and it becomes its egg case.  More fun with invertebrates!

We watched a short video about the value of worms:

http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/vtl07_vid_wonderworm/