DIY Earthworm Habitat

With Earth Day coming up, I wanted to do a fun Earth Day Experiment where we could observe some of nature up close.  And I thought what better creature than earthworms.  They really do so much for our soil, they are every gardeners friend, and they are really small (which helps when bringing in creatures to your home).

When I told my daughter that we were going to make an Earthworm habitat she was more excited than I expected.  We had to wait for a break in all the snow we were getting to go out and collect our worms.  It is funny  how in the summer we find worms all over but in the winter not so much (they are cold blooded), we did find a bunch of small/baby worms which I think worked out better anyway since our habitat is not huge.

We are in trouble because my daughter does not want to put our wormy friends back, she now thinks they are our pets and both girls look forward to checking on them each morning.  They also show them off to every friend that comes over to visit.  So we will be keeping our worm friends around for a little while longer, but I think for right now they are much in our habitat since it is nice and warm.  I will have to have the talk with my daughter soon though about setting them free.

What do Earthworms do?  Earthworms are the Earths friend, they eat the soil (or compost material) and as it goes through them and out the other end they add extra nutrients to the soil.   This is why a lot of people put worms in their compost bins (if you do you need to be careful about adding to much acidic items like tomatoes, oranges, and onions as they can burn the worms), the worms make the soil very nutrient which helps your plants grow. The worms also aerate the soil by digging tunnels, this brings plants the oxygen they need to grow.

What you will observe with this experiment?  In this experiment you will view the worms mixing the soil and sand.  They do this two ways, by digesting it and by traveling through it.  You will also get to see how the worms travel through the soil by creating tunnels, which help to aerate the soil.  Just make sure to keep your worms fed and the soil damp.

Supplies
Earthworms
Dirt
Sand
Spray bottle
Jar or container with lid
2 Cardboard rolls
Packing Tape
Black Construction paper
Chalk
Carrots, lettuces, coffee grounds

Directions

Dig in your yard to find some worms (if need be you can get them at a fishing store)

 Polk some holes in the lid of your container

 

Insert one cardboard roll into the other and size to fit inside your container. (I just pushed the one in farther till the lid would close with it in)

Now Cover the entire roll with packing tape to protect it from the water (by putting this in the middle of your container it will keep the worms on the sides so you can better view them)

Put your taped up rolls in your container then alternate filling it with dirt and sand (by having the different colors it will let you better see your worms and also view how they mix soil)

 After filling with your soil and sand add your worms

Wait a few min till the worms burrow under the dirt then add some worm food (carrots, lettuce, and coffee grounds)

 Draw a pretty design on your black construction paper using your chalk

 Now glue your paper around the Earthworm container (make sure to leave it loose enough so it will slide on and off so you can view your worms)

Here is our finished container (notice the worms my daughter drew in the grass).  To view our worms we just slide our container right out of the construction paper.

 We were able to see the worms moving through the sand and dirt the same day we put this together.

Don't forget to spray water on your habitat every couple of days.  Worms like it damp, but not too wet so don't over do it.  And remember to add more food when needed.

 You can observe your worms at any time of the day

 After a few days/weeks you will notice the sand and dirt mixing (that is the worms)

You will also notice several tunnels the worms have made to travel in