Monday 6 February 2012

Earth worm facts


Friday: Round 1, Feb 3

Eagles 3
EARTHWORM FACTS...

• An earthworm can grow only so long. A well-fed adult will depend on
what kind of worm it is, how many segments it has, how old it is and
how well fed it is. An Lumbricus terrestris will be from 90-300
millimeters long.
• A worm has no arms, legs or eyes.
• There are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms.
• Worms live where there is food, moisture, oxygen and a favorable
temperature. If they don't have these things, they go somewhere else.
• In one acre of land, there can be more than a million earthworms.
• The largest earthworm ever found was in South Africa and measured 22
feet from its nose to the tip of its tail.
• Worms tunnel deeply in the soil and bring subsoil closer to the
surface mixing it with the topsoil. Slime, a secretion of earthworms,
contains nitrogen. Nitrogen is an important nutrient for plants. The
sticky slime helps to hold clusters of soil particles together in
formations called aggregates.
·       Earthworms poop is healthy for the soil
• Charles Darwin spent 39 years studying earthworms more than 100 years ago.
• Worms are cold-blooded animals.
• Earthworms have the ability to replace or replicate lost segments.
This ability varies greatly depending on the species of worm you have,
the amount of damage to the worm and where it is cut. It may be easy
for a worm to replace a lost tail, but may be very difficult or
impossible to replace a lost head if things are not just right.
• Baby worms are not born. They hatch from cocoons smaller than a grain of rice.
• The Australian Gippsland Earthworm grows to 12 feet long and can
weigh 1-1/2 pounds.
• Even though worms don't have eyes, they can sense light, especially
at their anterior (front end). They move away from light and will
become paralyzed if exposed to light for too long (approximately one
hour).
• If a worm's skin dries out, it will die.
• Worms are hermaphrodites. Each worm has both male and female organs.
Worms mate by joining their clitella (swollen area near the head of a
mature worm) and exchanging sperm. Then each worm forms an egg capsule
in its clitellum.

• Worms can eat their weight each day. (Facts from University of
Illinois Extension)
Activity:  Students made beaded worms. 1 bead is equal to 1 feet
Take out: Students enjoyed earthworm poop and hermaphrodites

Kindergarten
Read books about Penguins and Little Pip


Grade 2 Nursery Rhymes
Read: The world that loved books
Rhyme1: Hungry hungry… I am so hungry I can eat 16 bananas and a purple plump.

Rhyme 2: Father and Mother and Uncle John Went to market one by one,
Father fell off
Mother fell off
But Uncle John went on, and on,  And on,  And on,  And on,  And on,  And on ...  


Monday, February 6: Round 1, Day 4

Grade 2
Read books:
·       The world that loved books by Stephen Parlato   
·       The END by Robert and Marlene McCraken
Showed pictures of 2 friends Allie and Corky from the book,  'See you later Alligator' by Norma M Charles
Classroom activity: Craft supplies given for classroom activity based on animals and the book, 'Alligator beat.'


Kindergarten
Read book: The world that loved books by Stephen Parlato   
Story: Shimmering clouds and the Rooster with golden horns

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