Minds on Science Gazette

Volume 9

Planning Activities: Life Science

Designing Units & Courses

 

In this activity students will explore the way earthworms respond to environmental changes.

Objectives

• To generate hypotheses regarding the interaction of earthworms and changing environmental conditions.
• To design safe experiments to find out how earthworms respond to environmental changes.
• To gather data to test hypotheses about earthworm behavior

Concepts

• Environmental change
• Environmental factors (touch, smell, sound, gravity, temperature, light)

Materials

Earthworms, pieces of paper, vinegar or household ammonia, damp sheet of newspaper, small box, flashlight, (and other materials as required by experiments).

Procedure

1. Tap the head of an earthworm gently with a finger or a pencil eraser. How did the earthworm respond?

2. How do you think earthworms will respond if any of the following environmental factors were changed: light, temperature, smell, gravity, sound?

3. Write one or more hypotheses that incorporate how you think earthworms will respond to various environmental conditions.

4. Design an experiment to test each hypothesis.

5. Conduct the experiment, and use the data to "test" the hypotheses.

6. What do you conclude about earthworm behavior?

Application to Science Teaching

1. This is an open inquiry science activity. Students will have to design experiments in order to test hypotheses. What cognitive skills are required to enable students to complete this activity?

2. Handling living things in the science classroom can be the medium to teach important attitudes and values about science. How would you insure that these attitudes and values were indeed part of the activity, and that the students were assessed on them as well? Describe you plan.