Worm Work

We had a special visitor today in SK.  Mrs. Kathy Boone, Environmental Special Assignment Teacher for KPDSB came to our class to teach us about worms and their life cycle.  I have had a worm vermicomposter in my classroom for the last 3 years and it was time to add some new worms to the mix.

We prepared for her visit by reading a book called Worm Work which told us all about the red wiggler worm.  We found out that worms like to eat leaf litter, fruit and vegetables, egg shells, tea bags and tea leaves.  Students found out that they shouldn't put citrus fruits, onions, dairy products and meat in the composter because it makes it smelly and the worms don't like that.  We found out a bit about how a worm eats, what worm castings are and how to harvest and separate the worms from the castings.

The first thing the students did today was to separate the castings and the worms. We added the castings to our classroom plants. They will love the added nutrients.


















The next thing we did was create a new comfortable 'bed' for the worms. We added some soil, eggshells, shredded paper, vegetable and fruit scraps and then more paper. Worms like a cool damp bed so each student misted 10 sprays into the vermicomposter.  Then we added 500 worms to their new home.

 

Students who were interested, got to hold and observe a worm up close before putting it gently into their new home.  Mrs. Boone gave each group a plate with castings and a large night crawler worm to have a look at with magnifying glasses.

 

 

Finally, students formed partners and had to talk about what they learned about worms today.  They were rewarded with a worm to eat.  A gummy worm, of course.

 

What we learned:

Connor and McKenna - worms are vegetarians, they eat plants

Dylan and Happy - poop turns into castings

Julian and Zach- worms don't have teeth but they have a gizzard

Gage and Dylan - paper comes from trees

Tatyana and Cooper - they like egg shells and they don't have any eyes

Lane and Evey - they need shelter, air, food and water to survive

Tye and Tyler - poop turns into soil

Ryder and Noah - they eat banana peels and they don't have any teeth