Multi-disciplinary Vermiculture Classroom Kits

Michele Altherr, Mountain GATE teacher and one of the founders of PEEC, has developed cross-curricular vermiculture kits for each grade level K-6. See below for standards covered and activities included. These kits are available for check-out from PEEC, and contain all the supplies and materials you will need. Live worms are included. Just contact us to make arrangements.

In Not All Animals are Alike, Kindergarteners will:

• Increase vocabulary and comprehension through reading, listening, and interacting with the picture book Wonderful Worms by Linda Glaser;
• Observe and describe the appearance and behavior of live worms using magnifying jars;
• Compare and contrast worms with other animals they have studied;
• Use colorful plastic worms in four sizes to practice their math skills in counting, sorting, and measuring.

In Nature's Recyclers First Graders will:

• Increase their vocabulary and comprehension through reading, listening, and interacting with the picture books;
• Conduct an experiment on rotting, and observe live worms in magnifying jars;
• Understand that earthworms along with other small creatures inhabit a unique underground environment and play an important recycling role in nature;
• Identify the difference between living and non-living things;
• Describe how compost helps gardens;
• Use colorful plastic worms in four sizes to learn about standard and non-standard units of measurement.

In Please Turn Out the Lights Second Graders will:

• Read the humorous book Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin and use finger puppets to retell the story or add new diary entries;
• Determine the difference between fact and fiction;
• Find out about soil with the book Dirt: The Scoop on Soil by Natalie Rosinsky;
• Conduct an experiment that tests a worm's reaction to light and dark;
• Infer how the dark environment influences the characteristics of earthworms
• Recognize, reproduce, and extend mathematical patterns of worms.

In Air Is Where You Find It Third Graders will:

• Read and identify the rhyming pattern in the book Compost by Gosh by Michelle Eva Portman;
• Write a squirmy limerick;
• Understand a worm's anatomy with the book The Life Cycle of a Worm by Bobbie Kalman;
• Observe that worms have structures that serve different functions with a focus on breathing;
• Conduct a science experiment about air spaces in soil;
• Conduct a mathematical investigation into how many pennies it takes to stretch a gummy worm;
• Know that an adaptation in physical structure can improve an organism's chance for survival;
• Know that living things cause changes to the environment in which they live and some of these changes are beneficial.

In Muscle Power Fourth Graders will:

• Read and discuss the humorous picture book Winnie Finn, Worm Farmer by Carol Brendler
• Write a funny laffronym and a comic strip;
• Explain that different living organisms have distinctive structures and body systems have specific functions;
• Describe the components of relationships among organisms in a food chain;
• Read and discuss the non-fiction book The Life Cycle of a Worm by Bobbie Kalman;
• Conduct experiments into how worms move;
• Apply problem solving skills to discovering mystery numbers.

Fifth and Sixth Grade kit descriptions coming soon!