Worms!

To kick off our plant unit, I thought it would be great fun to start off with how the nutrients for the plants get into the soil. What better way than to bring in some WORMS! We almost had more fun than our class Christmas party. I even had another teacher come and see what all of the noise was about. It was great.

To start with we read a book about worms, and I had the kids "Think, Pair, Share" about what they learned from the book. Then we watched this great youtube video on GIANT worms! Holy Cow! (Since we can't watch youtube videos at our school, I downloaded it using keepvid.)

Then I gave all each group this chart (click on the Earthworm anatomy link at the bottom) to study the anatomy of a worm. Each child was given a worksheet (I used the picture from the poster) so they could label the external parts of a worm.

Finally I brought out the stars so the kids could really check them out. I gave them magnifying glasses to get up close and personal. Then the kids had to draw their worm and write an observation about it.

After our observations we gently placed the worms in a jar so we could create a habitat for them to live in our classroom.

If you ask my students how the nutrients get into the soil they will proudly tell you, "WORMS POOP IT OUT!"