Diary of a Worm: A Digital Book by Room 4-4.

Written by

Spencer BrownSarah HolsbergShio Kohiyama

Andreas MarinosGalen OdellIan Parker

Tia SchioppoTheo Strongin

© 2008 Room 4-4 The Parkside School New York, NY

Table of Contents

• Introduction by Galen Odell……………………..pg. 3• Anatomy by Ian Parker…………………………..pg. 5• Food by Tia Schioppo……………………………pg. 6• Helping Environment by Theo Strongin…………pg. 7• Worms and Their Senses by Andreas Marinos…..pg.8• Reproduction by Sarah Holsberg……………….. pg. 9• Vermicomposting by Spencer Brown……………pg. 10• Life in a Wormery by Shio Kohiyama…………...pg. 12• Cool Facts by Ms. Klenk and Ms. Kim…………..pg. 14

IntroductionWorms are intelligent animals that perform an important job for our earth. We help to consume the planet’s garbage and make the soil more fertile or rich in the materials needed for plants to grow. Worms are soft and thin with no bones or legs. We are invertebrates (we have no backbone). Although we have no legs, we can crawl because we have two types of strong muscles. Our outer layer of muscles are like rings around our body, and they squeeze us, making us strrretccch forward. Our inner muscles are long and when they contract, we get shorter and the back end of our body moves up toward our front end. We strrretccch and contract over and over to move forward. Also to help us move, we have tiny bristles on each of our segments called setae, and we ooze mucus which helps us slide smoothly. We are alive of course; we need food and water to survive and we reproduce.

Earthworms

Introduction (continued) We also need to stay moist and try to avoid the sun.

Usually when you think of worms, you’ll think of earthworms that tunnel underground in the soil. But there are lots of other worms that live in a variety of habitats. Some worms live in water. Ice worms live inside glaciers and deep-sea tubeworms live around boiling water near the ocean floor. There are even metal-eating “superworms” discovered at old mining sites in England that feast on toxic waste and actually help clean polluted land. Worms come in all sizes too. Some, such as the Giant Australian earthworms, can grow more than 10 feet long. Ribbon worms can be 100 feet long! At the opposite extreme are inchworms and other worms that are so tiny, they can only be seen through a microscope.

Super worms Deep-sea Tubeworms

Anatomy of a WormHi I am a worm. I’m going to tell you about the anatomy of a

worm. My segments look like little rings. Adult worms have 120-170 segments. I have 5 hearts that pump my blood through my body. My bristles are small hairs called setae. They help me move. Now the front & back ends. The front is the anterior, the back is the posterior.

When worms mate their clitella join and they exchange sperm. The clitellum is a swollen band.

FoodWorms like me who live on the surface like to eat dead grass

and leaves. But mostly I like to eat organic materials like fruits, vegetables, and plants. Worms like my friend Squirmy, that live underground, eat mostly dirt. We both eat bacteria and algae and fungi. Worms eat about half our body weight every day.

I suck dirt into my mouth like a vacuum. Then it moves into my gizzard, that acts like teeth to grind the food. Next it goes into my intestines to break down more to be used as fuel by the rest of my body.

The left over nutrients that my body did not use come out my back end as castings. Castings are very important to the environment, you know! They help farmers have rich soil to grow plants and trees.

Worms Helping our EnvironmentI may be puny but I play the most important

part of any animal in my ecosystem. A long, long time ago, Charles Darwin was the first human to notice my actions and what I do for the soil. I burrow in the ground and make it fertile. The pathways I make help air and water get into the soil. and that helps plants grow because plants’ roots can get more oxygen and water.

“Worm castings” is a fancy way to say worm poop. my castings are important because they soften the soil, control fungi, improve plant growth and eliminate odor. my fertilizer (a.k.a. my poop) doesn’t pollute the ground, unlike the chemical fertilizers those humans make.

Worm castingsCharles Darwin

Worms and their SensesDid you know worms breathe

through their skin? Did you know worms in particular can only eat and feel? They can’t see or hear. Did you know worms can only eat things up to two millimeters long? They also can move by their bristles which are really small hairs. Worms have little rings on their bodies called segments which helps them move and curl.

Reproduction

Here is how I reproduce. Another worm & I rub our clitellums together. It is our only reproductive system. We separate and we lay eggs isolated in the soil. The range of baby worms in the eggs is within one to five babies. When they emerge from their cocoon, our babies are transparent and are on their own. Our babies are ½ a inch long which is about the size of a grain of rice.

Worm eggs Worm Worm part near clitellum

VermicompostingVermicomposting is the process of having red worms and other

decomposer organisms’s process our organic waste and turn it into a great natural fertilizer. Vermicomposting is easy; it requires very few supplies and can be done by anyone. A simple box or container makes a fine worm bin and keeps worms and decomposing food scraps in one area.

We should vermicompost because it keeps valuable resources out our of the landfill, it helps us to grow better veggies, and we have fun looking at tiny critters in the worm bin. We should also vermicompost because it feels good to recycle nutrients that don’t need to be wasted. Finally, we should vermicompost to make a few bucks now and then, and selling worms to new composters.

Vermicomposting (continued)

Many gardeners compost both yard waste and kitchen waste with compost piles, sheet composting or some other method during the gardening season. Fortunately very little yard waste is generate during winter months when cold temperatures make composting difficult. However, usable kitchen waste is constantly being generated and must be disposed of. Vermicomposting is the process of using worms and micro-organisms to turn kitchen waste into black, earthy-smelling nutrient-rich humus.

Outside of a worm bin Inside of a worm bin

Life Inside a WormeryA wormery is a home for worms. It is made

sometimes with clear sides so you can see how they work.To build a wormery we need a plastic container, soil, sand, leaves, Water, and about 5 worms.

Inside a wormery they eat the soil while they dig tunnels. They eat organic food (like tomatoes and carrots). Worms like to live inside the wormery because

it is like their natural habitat.

Cool Facts about Worms• The largest earthworm ever found measured 22 feet long!

It was found in South Africa.

• A worm has NO arms, legs or eyes.

• There are approximately 2,700 different kinds of earthworms.

• Earthworms have the ability to replace their lost segments. This

ability depends 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.

Australian Giant Gippsland Earthworm