We started learning about worms today! A few weeks ago, I checked out just about every work book the Winona library had. They were crawling with worm info, and fun experiment ideas. My favorite book, Wormology, started off with a definition of 'wormologist.' I told Julia and Claire that a wormologist is a person who studies and cares about worms. They both agreed that even though they are a little afraid of worms, they do care about them, and want to learn more about them. We took an idea from the book to make a worm palace. Julia and Claire prefer to call theirs a worm castle! I think Julia was picturing a pink, sparkly castle, fit for a princess. Here is the face she made when I told her our jar of dirt and rotting grass and leaves was our worm castle.
To make a worm castle, all you need is a clean, clear jar. Fill it one-third full with damp, but not soggy soil. Then add one inch of sand, and top it off with more soil. Because worms like to eat rotting leaves and stuff, put a good bunch of dead leaves at the top of the jar. Then, go look for your royal worms! We had the best luck finding ours underneath our flower pots on the driveway. It was a rainy day so we didn't have to dig for them.
Our worm castle. The wormologists watching
their first worm.
Our first worm checking out it's new castle.
Julia lifting up a pot to check for more worms.
Once you have your worms in the castle, you put a black sock over the jar because they like it dark. Julia named our first, and biggest worm, Simus. Claire named our second, medium-sized worm, Selke. And Julia named the smallest one Salsy. Interesting that they chose all s-names! Tomorrow we will take the sock off and check for burrows (worm tunnels) and castings (worm poop!).
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