Friday, April 20, 2012

Wild about Worms!

Our class couldn't wait to meet a group of tiny, slimy, wiggly friends this week :)  We're talking about worms, of course!  Before we were introduced to the little creatures, we read the book "The Diary of a Worm" and watched a Wild Kratts worm video on PBS (see this month's page to learn more).  We learned that worms don't have ears, eyes, a nose, or feet like the other animals we've learned about- only a mouth.  We practiced finding the worms heads by first locating the ring band that goes around their body.  The Kratts video also taught us that worms prefer not to come out when it is sunny because it can take away their moisture and hurt their bodies.  They can, however, come out in the rain as it is easy for them to move around in.  Since they don't have feet or legs, they have to move around by contracting and expanding their bodies like an accordian.  Worms live in underground tunnels and have a diet that consists of leaves, plants, and fruit.  Farmers love worms because they help make the soil ready to grow crops.  The girls in our class seemed to be the really adventurous ones when it came to handle the worms- they 'dug' right in!  We had some guys, on the other hand, who didn't want to be within 10 feet of the squirmy friends!  Check out our pictures and videos below to see what our encounter was like: