Learning about worms

Books to read-

Garden wigglers : earthworms in your backyard by Loewen, Nancy

Inchworm and a half by Pinczes, Elinor J.

It could still be a worm by Fowler, Allan

The inside-out stomach : an introduction to animals without backbones by Loewer, H. Peter

Wonderful worms by Glaser, Linda

Videos/Movies to watch-

Creepy creatures & slimy stuff [videorecording]

Slither & slime and other yucky things [juvenile DVD]

Maps/Charts to look at (or create)-

We'll be collecting worms in the yard to start our own worm farm and will keep track of how many other insects and critters we find in the dirt. We will then create a simple bar graph to organize and compare the information we've gathered about the underground habitat in our back yard. We will probably do this with legos.

Vocabulary words to discuss-

• Burrow - to make a hole or passage in, into, or under something.


• Clitellum - a ring or saddle-shaped region of glandular tissue in the body wall of certain annelids, as earthworms and some leeches, that after copulation secretes a cocoon in which the eggs and sperm are deposited for fertilization and development.


• Setae - A stiff hair, bristle, or bristlelike process or part on an organism


• Wormcast - cylindrical mass of earth voided by a burrowing earthworm or lugworm


• Invertebrate - not vertebrate; without a backbone

The three we will focus on the most are burrow, wormcast and invertebrate.

Writing project-

I will encourage my big boy to either create a short comic book type story about a worm (this will take all week) or write two sentences a day telling me what he is learning about worms (this, of course, would be done each day.) My little boy will probably choose a couple of words a day to write for me (such as earthworm or dirt).

Art Project or appreciation-

We will chose a project from this book -

Insects, bugs, & art activities by Parker, Steve

Physical activity-

We will enjoy pretending to be worms by slithering around the house

and will read

Pets in a jar / collecting and caring for small wild animals by Simon, Seymour

and try our hand at a worm farm.

Field trips-

Go in the back yard a collect worms and dirt for our worm farm and probably go fishing with Dad! (Notice I did not say "with Mom". Yuck!)