Worms

With the warmer weather and change in season, the children have been very interested in the garden and insects on our playground.  We have been searching for worms whenever we go outside.  After talking with the other classroom teachers, we found the children in room four also had a shared interest in insects, specifically worms.  We have collaborated with room four in the past, so we thought it would be fun to meet up again!

Bug hunting on the playground

Exploring worms in the dirt

During our first few interactions, the children were able to get up close and personal with some earthworms.  We began generating a list of questions we had about worms.  Do they have eyes?  What colors can the worms be? How do worms move?  The children had many questions that we wanted to figure out how to answer.  We noticed the children were very focused on the body parts of the worms.  There is not much to an earthworm, so how do they eat or even move?  The children are familiar with two and four legged animals, but did not know much about the worms. 

using different tools to observe

watching the worms moves

remembering to be gentle when picking up the worms

After observing and sketching the worms.  We thought it would be helpful to introduce the body parts of the worms, and provide names for the children.  We watched a few videos of worms eating and moving.  So the children understood the worms has a mouth.  They also noticed the worms liked to be close to each other (in a ball) and would move to be together.  We looked at the diagram and the names of the different body parts.  The children sketched their own worms, and we found the drawing lines and including circles for segments. 

diagram of the worm

Very focused on the lines/segments of the worm

Pointing out the head and the tail on the worm

The line with the circles is a collaborative drawing.  The first child drew the line, the second child added the circles for segments.

We would like to continue looking at the different body parts of the worms, and answering the questions we continue to come up with.  The older children have been very helpful with the younger children, and have been teaching them about the earthworms.  We continue to research and read books separate, and come together to share ideas.