Thursday, November 10, 2011

Earthworms

Experiment

First we prepared a worm jar as described in Small Wonders by Garrett & Thomas.  We collected worms for the jar from our compost pile.  Then we placed the following food on top of the soil: carrot, apple, brussel sprouts, & lettuce.  Every few days, we sprayed water into the jar and made observations.  After a few weeks, we returned the worms to the compost pile.

Hypothesis
  • worms will eat cornmeal
  • worms will eat all food left on the surface
  • worms will mix layers
Observations
  • apple peels disappeared first
  • carrot peels were pulled underground
  • brussel sprouts & lettuce remained on the soil surface
  • worms were often seen in the sand layer
  • soil layers were mixed
  • castings were found on the soil surface
  • less cornmeal could be seen at the end of the experiment

Books:  An Earthworm's Life by Himmelman;  Wiggling Worms at Work by Pfeffer;  There's a Hair in My Dirt! A Worm's Story by Larson

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