Introduction

Wonderful Earthworms subject sampler was developed to supplement an already existing earthworm curriculum for first grade at Northside Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas.  Because of the scarcity of informational resources on earthworms at an elementary level, we designed this to be easy to use for students in first grade .

Wonderful Earthworms is designed to help students develop interest in learning about earthworms.  It concentrates on the anatomy  and habitat of the earthworm. The project sampler assesses students on the knowledge they gain through interesting puzzles, quizzes, and games.

Content Area and Grade Level

This subject sampler is designed for a first grade science lesson.  It can be extended to different grade levels that may examine anatomy of different creatures or to a lesson on different systems of the body.

Curriculum Standards
TEKS (Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills)

§112.3. Science, Grade 1.
1.2) Scientific processes. The student develops abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry in the field and the classroom.
        (A) ask questions about organisms, objects, and events;
        (B) plan and conduct simple descriptive investigations;
(1.6) Science concepts. The student knows that systems have parts and are composed of organisms and objects.
         (A) sort organisms and objects according to their parts and characteristics;
         (B) observe and describe the parts of plants and animals;
1.9) Science concepts. The student knows that living organisms have basic
 needs.
        (A) identify characteristics of living organisms that allow their basic needs
                            to be met;

Implementation Overview

 Wonderful Worms is organized by a series of questions where students are led directly to a website to acquire the answer.  There are 10 activities designed to make students become interested in learning about earthworms.  The teacher should print the worksheet and students answer  questions for each activity while exploring the subject sampler and internet sites. The lesson will can be taught in either a lab or class setting.  In a computer lab, the lesson will take approximately two hours.  In a classroom setting,  it can be used as a center activity.

Resources Needed

• access to internet  Adventures of Herman
• access to computer lab or classroom computer with printer
• Wonderful Worm worksheet (optional)

Entry Level Skills and Knowledge

Students and teachers need to have basic internet/computer skills before beginning this lesson.
 

Evaluation

Students will be evaluated on the completion of the worksheet .  They will also have to complete quizzes on the computer in specific activities.   Students are to reflect on two new things they have learned about earthworms in Activity 9.

Conclusion

Wonderful Worms project sampler helps students learn while having fun.  It is an invaluable resource to teachers who may sometimes not have the adequate references to draw their materials from.  We hope that you incorporate this subject sampler into an already existing lesson on earthworms or systems of the body unit.

Credits
Adventures of Herman
by dezign
 

Last updated on November 25, 2002

Elizabeth Langer
Kittiya Banks-Johnson

Based on a template from The WebQuest Page