Our Worm Rescue Mission

As one of our final activities in our earthworm unit, I thought it would be appropriate to take the kids on a little humanitarian expedition. In the course of our studies, we learned that worms don't have lungs. Instead, they breathe (absorb oxygen that is) through the slime on their skin. That is why so many worms die on the side walk after a rain storm. The rain washes them out of their tunnels, and then the sun dries up the mucus on their skin causing them to suffocate before they can crawl back to their homes. My kids were troubled by this information, and so, when we woke up one day to some scattered thunderstorms in our area, we had to cancel circle time and instead spend our morning on a worm rescue mission. We all piled onto the stroller and spent the morning walking around the neighborhood looking for stranded worms. In the course of our two hour mission we were able to rescue eleven earthworms and two slugs. Several worms had already passed by the time we got to them, and two worms actually died right before our eyes. Actually, the first worm simply split in two when Emma picked him/her up--a special worm trick that my children were delighted to get to witness in real life. The head of the worm got away, and Emma was left with the wiggling little tail to carry around for the next hour. The second worm actually did die though. It was amazing really. Just about twenty feet in front of us on the side walk was a fat, juicy worm, so fat and juicy in fact, that a robin flew in and and plucked it up right before our very eyes. You can bet my kids will never forget that birds are one of worms main predators after that! Talk about bringing your book learning to life! All in all, the rescue mission was a great success.
Our humanitarian efforts weren't simply limited to our rescue mission though. A second humanitarian project came up later that day as we spent some time talking about other animals--invertebrates to be specific--that are called worms but are not actually worms. Among these, of course, are silk worms, which are actually moths. As we read through our animal cards and learned all about silk worms, we were shocked to find out that you actually have to kill the worms to collect the silk. I always thought that the worms spun it, much like a spider spins a web. It turns out; however, the the silk is actually the worms' cocoon. The worm spins the silky cocoon around itself, and then the breeders throw the worm into boiling water, kill the worm, and retrieve the silk. Madison was horrified. She wanted to rush downstairs and check all of her night gowns right away to make sure none of them were real silk. Then we all had to sign a petition that we would never buy real silk again. (Anyone who would like to sign the petition can drop an e-mail to Maddi!) It's crazy the places home schooling, or simply learning in general can take you! Crazy, and so much fun!