RED WORMS IN THE CLASSROOM

by

Sharon Lovejoy

Raising red worms in the classroom teaches children how easy it is to recycle, reduce waste, and make rich, healthy soil for gardens.

Worm bins can be made of cinder blocks, bricks, hay bales, wooden boxes, styrofoam containers or trash cans.

The chosen container should have holes in the bottom or sides. Don't make the holes too big or the worms will escape. You may drill larger holes if you cover them with screen. Make sure your container has a lid. If you don't provide a lid, every bird, raccoon, possum, dog, and cat in the neighborhood will dig in your garbage and disturb the worms.

Place your worms in a shady location, garage, or basement.

Fill the bottom of your bin with cedar curls (like the ones used in hamster bedding), dry grass, or hay. Add a gallon of water and a pound of worms. Don't stir! Over the top of your worms, lay a few pieces of bread, some pasta, a banana peel, potato, or even damp newspaper. Cover with a layer of soil or clippings. Put the top down and ignore the worms for a few days.

Open the container and lift up some of the goodies. You should see plump red worms feeding and wiggling.

Everyday you may add a layer of garbage, or you may wish to dig a shallow hole, place garbage inside the hole, and cover with soil and clippings.

After a few weeks you should be able to remove some worms and castings to use as a rich food for your gardens and as a topping for container grown plants.

Use an old aquarium as a classroom worm farm. Fill the bottom of the aquarium with grass clippings or cedar curls and a few cups of soil. Add bread crusts and other lunch box leftovers. Add 2 cups of water and a handful of red earthworms (100). The worms will immediately burrow into the "food" you have provided. Everyday the children can put small amounts of food, wet paper, twigs, even broken styrofoam into the aquarium. Check daily to see what the worms have pulled undercover, eaten, digested, and cast to the top of the soil.

Keep the worms moist (not flooded), fed, cooL, and covered, and they will be happy.

Copyright 1996, Sharon Lovejoy