Fun with Worms at “Our Vital Earth” in Apopka
Feb 9th, 2008 by Jan Zeiger
When I joined a local homeschool group, I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I heard they were going to visit a worm farm the following week. “What’s a worm farm?” I thought. Well, it’s exactly what it sounds like. They raise worms. But not just any worms. They specialize in the three types of worms that eat garbage (composting worms). My son, David, is a typical four year old who enjoys learning about “yucky“ things, so I signed us up.
Our trip to Our Vital Earth began with the tour guide teaching the group of young children a bit about worms and why they are so important. The children enjoyed learning about how they collected “worm tea” which is really worm urine. The guide explained that worm tea is extremely helpful and used by gardeners as a fertilizer and for pest control.
After the talk, we went outside where we saw a multitude of worms and even went on to make our own worm farms. The children were given a plastic bottle, paper shreds, a bit of soil, grit made of volcanic rock, and 6 worms of their own. We punched air holes on the side of the bottle and made a sleeve for the bottle out of construction paper. We added the materials to the bottle along with a little bit of moisture, talking about each addition and seeking more information from the guide when necessary. Within a few minutes, my son had created his own “worm farm” to take home with the help of his little sister, Loralei.
The children learned about composting and gained a better understanding of the importance of worms. As a homeschooling mom, I’m always looking for unique experiences for my children such as this one. When I was an elementary school teacher, I attempted to provide my students with these types of experiences but found that high stakes testing often got in the way of real learning. Now that I’m home with my own children, I am able to spend my days facilitating my children’s learning by exposing them to new places, people, and ideas. It’s constructivist teaching at its best, and I’m enjoying every minute of my time with them. The world is our classroom, and our trip to the worm farm is just another example of life without school in action.
Want more info? Our Vital Earth was reviewed recently by another mom on the Central FL Green Guide!
One Response to “Fun with Worms at “Our Vital Earth” in Apopka”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
We have been to the worm farm and really enjoyed it. My son loved taking care of his worms and seeing them reproduce. We had many baby worms. One thing not mentioned in the review that we got to do was plant two sets of beans in small pots. One pot had regular soil and one pot had worm compost in it. We took those pots home and observed their growth. The beans in the worm compost sprouted up long before those in regular soil. It was neat to see the worms in action and to see how beneficial they are in the garden.
We recently started our own garden and have plans to add a worm bin. We will be visiting the worm farm again in March. We are excited to learn even more about worms as we grow our own food to eat.