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THE
EARTHWORM YOU WILL NEED: AN EARTHWORM OR A
VERY GOOD PICTURE OF ONE An earthworm has a muscular body.
Its body is divided into rings or segments.
There are tiny bristles on the lower part of each segment. With its slimy
skin, the movement of its muscles and the tiny bristles, an earthworm is able to
move through the soil. v
What
is an earthworm’s
body divided into? _____________________ v
What
is on the underside of each segment? __________________
v
How
are the bristles helpful to the worm? _________________ ____________________________________________________________ Circle the words that best
describe an earthworm
pinkish-brown slimy
hard soft
spiky
rough
long slithering Earthworms munch their way
through the soil in search of dead plants to eat.
They spend most of their lives swallowing earth underground.
Leaves of deciduous trees fall in autumn.
They are full of nutrients from the energy of the sun. Earthworms drag
leaves from the surface and eat them. As
they chew they swallow bits of earth which mix with the dead plants.
v
Where
will the autumn leaves that are not collected have disappeared to by the
following summer?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________ Earthworms are very important?
They are natural recyclers. A
d __
c __ __ p
__ s
___ r
is a good word to describe an earthworm. What does this mean?
_________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Worms usually only come to the
surface of the soil at night when there are no birds around to catch them. v
Why
do we sometimes see birds poking in the soil after a shower of rain?
What Are they looking for?
_____________________________________________________________ v
Name
some birds that like to eat earthworms.
_____________________________________________________________ Earthworms have no eyes but if
you shine a torch on them they will withdraw quickly into the ground.
Although they cannot see they can feel an animal coming near them because
the movement of an animal causes the soil to vibrate.
Their mouths are small gaps protected by a flap of skin under the front
end of their bodies.
sensitive senses
vibration swallowing Write two sentences to describe
an earthworm using the words above. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Worms’ eggs are kept in hard
little cases or cocoons in the soil. These
cocoons are made in a swollen red part of the worm’s body called a saddle.
A large number of tiny worms climb out of the cocoon when it hatches,
ready to start their burrowing life under the soil.
Look
for the saddle on the earthworm. Are there bristles on the saddle?
yes no Draw a picture of an earthworm in the above box. If the weather is very cold
earthworms plug the opening of their burrows with leaves and go to sleep deep
down under the soil. They often spend the winter rolled up in a ball underground
with other sleeping worms. v
What
is this called? _____________________________________ NB
Always wash your hands after handling soil or earthworms |
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