Saturday, April 28, 2012

Whoa! We're digging these WORMS!!!

I must admit, I do not like holding worms...I like seeing them in my garden because they are so good for the soil, but picking up a worm isn't exactly my cup of tea. However, my discomfort around worms doesn't mean that my students shouldn't get the opportunity to investigate them! My students learned all about worms yesterday. Before introducing our new "friends," each 3rd grade class read the story Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin. My kiddos LOVED this book! There were lots of smiles and laughs throughout the comical story. I also laid out some ground rules, giving each of my students some gummy worms to practice handling a worm safely- no dangling worms allowed! We discussed how to properly hold them so that we do not tire our worms out. Because worms do not have eyes, they have to rely on their sense of touch to move around. Their muscle-filled bodies are hard at work!

Students selected their worm and begin investigating it. They had to "get to know" their worm by naming it and measuring it. Stations were set up to further our worm-filled fun!

 1.) Worm Races! Students raced their worm against another worm. This was a favorite!
2.) Dark paper versus light paper. Most students thought that worms would prefer dark paper, but after disussing how the sun can cause dark colors to become more hot, we agreed that worms would much rather be on a lighter-colored surface.

 3.) Wet paper towel versus dry paper towel. Which one does the worm prefer?
After we were all done with our friends, we put them safely back in their containers. I dug a few holes in my garden and placed them in their new homes :)

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