The Wonders of Worms!

2/28/2019

While planting baby lettuces in the garden we discovered a whole bunch of earthworms! Worms help to create healthy soil for our beautiful veggies by aerating the soil and adding humus through their castings.

The hunt for worms created an enthusiastic flow of questions:

Why are worms so slimy?
Why are worms so wiggly?
What do worms eat?
How long do worms live?
Where do worms live?
Why do worms hide under the dirt?
Can worm see? Can they smell?

Worm Hunting!

Worm Habitat

To learn more about worms we created a worm habitat so we could observe a few worms more closely. What do worms need to survive?

Soil! Water! Decomposed leaves! Fresh leaves!

Light or Dark?

Think about where earthworms live, do you think they prefer light or dark?

When half the box was covered in dark cloth all the worms eventually went over to the side covered with the cloth!

Wet or Dry?

Do you think worms prefer to live in a wet or dry environment?

When we put our worms in the middle of a dry paper towel and a wet paper towel, they quickly moved over to the wet side! Worms breathe through their skin and they need wet skin to be able to breathe.

Do Worms Have Senses?

One cotton pad is soaked in lemon juice, one cotton pad is soaked with salt water, the other cotton pad is soaked with spring water. One corner of the tray also has a fresh apple slice. Which corner would attract the most worms?
They strongly avoided the salt water and lemon juice (like with convulsions!). A few worms went after the water, but they swarmed the fresh apple.

Earthworm Hearts

Did you know that an earthworm has 5 hearts!?! We looked for their hearts by placing a worm in a petri dish and using a light to better see the pumping action of their many hearts!

Measuring Worms

To learn more about worms we created our own rulers and practiced measuring drawings of worms, then we measured some real worms!

"Worms are wiggly!"

We had so much fun measuring worms we used our rulers to measure different plants in the garden too!

Worm Books!

Worm Farm!

Now that we know how awesome worms are for the garden soil the kids were inspired to build a permanent worm farm that we feed with scraps from our snacks and lunches.

Love Grows!

This is one of our favorite action songs to practice in February - a wonderful month to celebrate love! Here are the words with the actions so you can sing at home together :)

"Love"

"grows"

"1 by 1"

"2 by 2"

"and 4 by 4"

"Love"

"grows"

"round like a circle"

"and comes back a knocking"

"at your front door!"

Love Yoga!

This month in Hola Yoga we have been practicing with loving affirmations in English and Spanish!

I am awesome!
¡Soy increíble!
Star Pose

I am open!
¡Soy abierto!
Crescent Moon Pose

I am strong!
¡Soy fuerte!
Warrior 1 Pose

I am beautiful!
¡Soy hermoso!
Dancer Pose

I am healthy!
¡Soy sano!
Cat/Cow Pose

I am creative
¡Soy creativo!
Bridge Pose

I am honest!
¡Yo soy honesto!
Camel Pose

I am loving!
¡Soy cariñosa!
Hugging Twist

I am happy
¡Soy feliz!
Happy Baby Pose

I am calm!
¡Soy calmado!
Resting Pose

And the best way to finish love yoga...

Big hugs!

Sweet Valentine Crafts!

Learning Fractions with Circles!

Music Class!

We have been learning to play 'Row row row your boat" on the autoharp and writing our own songs too!

Healthy Chocolates!

Simple, no-bake, no-sugar yumminess. Combine 1 cup of warmed coconut butter, 1 cup of warmed coconut oil, 1/2 cup cacao powder, 1/3 cup coconut flour, and 4 TBS monkfruit sweetener. Then spoon into heart molds, refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and tong hemp seeds or shredded coconut on top. The kids ate them all up!