Fifth graders in Ms. Ullrich’s class at Frank K. Hehnly School recently engaged in a unit on Life Science from the new Knowing Science program studying the food webs and food chains in our environment. Students learned decomposers are the organisms that get their energy by recycling dead organisms to produce new nutrients in the soil for plants, and no organism does it better than the earthworm.
In this lesson, students learned about the worm’s structural and behavioral adaptations, the role of worms as decomposers, and their basic anatomy. As a truly “hands-on” experiment, students worked in groups to measure, touch the skin, observe the movement, and identify the worm’s segments and body parts. This was just the beginning of the worm study which will include observing how worms react to different scents, light, and vibrations. Who knew there was so much to learn about these creatures? Just ask a student from Hehnly School – they can tell you!
(above) Hehnly students studying the earthworm.
