This document outlines an educational activity for grade 2 students to create and maintain a worm bin in the classroom, highlighting the role of worms in soil health and gardening. Students will learn about worms' needs, the soil food web, and how to use compost to benefit their school garden. The activity includes assembling the worm bin, ongoing maintenance, harvesting compost, and understanding plant-worm interactions through guided questions and hands-on engagement.

1. Soil Pets
Grade Level: Grade 2
Description
In this activity, students will make a worm bin and keep it in their classroom. They will feed the
worms food scraps and then when the compost is finished, add it to the school garden.
Guiding Questions
What does a worm need to live? How is soil made? What do plants need? How do worms and
plants work together?
Big Idea
Soil macro-organisms play an important role in soil, as a part of the decomposition process. In
learning about what worms need to thrive, they will learn about the soil food web, as they see
how the needs of a worm link to the needs of healthy soil, and therefore to the needs of plants in
the school garden.
Learning Objectives
To be able to explain what happens in a worm bin. To be able to explain how a worm bin helps
the school garden. To understand what a worm needs to live, and what a plant needs to live, and
how they work together.
Materials
* A shallow Plastic Storage Bin with lid approximately 24” by 18” by 8”. Rinsed well with water
only.
* A drill with a 1/16” bit
* Enough newspaper and clean leaves to fill it.
* A container of soil to cover the cardboard in the bottom of the bin with about 1” of soil
* A piece of cardboard for the bottom of the bin (to soak up extra moisture)
* Water
* About 1lb of Red Wiggler worms (Eisenia foetida or Lumbricus rubellus) (see sources)
* Chopped up raw fruit and vegetable food scraps. Avoid cooked food, meat, oils, dairy. Use only
raw fruits and vegetables. You will need an on going source of these to feed your worms at a
ratio of 2:1 - so one pound of worms will eat 1/2 lb food in 24hrs
* A tarp or plastic table cloth is helpful to contain mess.
* A small bowl of wet soil for worm handling.
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of
Agricultural Resources.

2. Part 1: Assemble the Worm Bin
Preparation
1. Drill holes just under the top lip and in the lid of your storage container. Cut a piece of
cardboard to size to fit in your container (or do this with your class). Order worms. Decide on a
good location for your worm bin - the temperature should not fluctuate too much and remain
warm (but not hot).
Introducing the Lesson
Activate prior knowledge: Ask students what they know about worms. Have they ever dug one
up? What do worms do in the garden?
Engage Student Interest: We are going to keep worms as pets in our classroom. These will be
useful pets as they will make soil for our school garden!
Procedure Total time to assemble bin: approximately 1 hr
Ongoing can be finished in 3-4 months. Can keep going for years!
In the Classroom:
1. Lay out your tarp or table cloth. Bring out the materials. Have groups of students shred
newspaper and leaves. Have another group trace the bottom of the bin onto a piece of
cardboard and cut it out. Other students can be chopping up 1/2 lb of raw fruits and
vegetables for the worms first meal. (25 mins)
1. Assemble the worm bin. Put the cardboard on the bottom, followed by the layer of soil. Next
add the shredded newspaper and leaves. Then add cups of water and mix until the bedding is
moist (but not too soggy).
2. Invite students to take turns burying food scraps in different parts of the worm bin for the
worms first meal.
3. Bring out the worms. Explain that worms have a different body temperature than us, breathe
through their skin and are fragile. Depending on the group, either walk around and let
students see and touch the worms as you hold them, or pass around the bowl of soil and let
students take turns coating their hands and then handle the worms. Covering their hands with
soil before hand stops their body temperature drying out the worms skin. Put the worms on
the top of the bedding in the worm bin. You could give a worm to each student, and then ask
them to carefully place it in the worm bin. The worms will burrow to escape the light. (20
mins)
4. Put the lid on the bin, and move the worm bin to its permanent location in the classroom.
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of
Agricultural Resources.

3. Wrap up
Have students make signs about the worm bin: A name for
it (e.g. 2nd Grade Worm Hotel) what kinds of food can be
put in it, what can not. (20 mins)
Maintenance
Continue to add chopped up raw fruits and vegetables to
your worm bin weekly. Do not add more than your worms
can eat. To assess this, dig around in your worm bin and
see how many un-decomposed scraps you have, and do
not add more until there is room.
Assessing Student Knowledge
Ask your students what worms need to live (warmth,
water, air, food etc) and how they make soil.
Extensions
Have students create a worm bin presentation to show
other classrooms their worms. Have students weigh the
worm bin to determine the 2:1 ratio for food as the worms
multiply.
Maintenance
Continue to feed your worms and adjust what you are
feeding them depending on what they seem to like to eat,
and how quickly they eat it. Add water or new bedding if
you need to adjust the moisture level and keep the bin
damp. Adding a few handfuls of bedding every few weeks
can also help prevent problems.
Part 2: Harvesting Your Garden Soil
Materials
* A bright directional lamp
* A tarp
* A plastic tub or bin to put the finished worm castings in.
* Gloves for kids who do not want to handle the castings.
* New bedding for starting the bin again.
What To Feed the Worms
Yes No!
Vegetables
Fruits
Bread and Grains
Cereal
Coffee grounds &
filter
Tea bags
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of
Agricultural Resources.
Dairy Products
Fats
Meat
Peanut butter
Oils
Trouble Shooting
Worms are dying or trying to
escape: Your bin could not be at the
correct moisture level. Add water or
bedding to correct this. Your bedding
may be used up. It may be time to
harvest your bin!
It smells bad!:
It may be too wet, need more
ventilation (drill more holes) or you
may be feeding them too much.
Fruit Flies:
Make sure you are burying the food
properly in the bedding!

4. In The Classroom:
1. Lay out the tarp. Turn your worm bin out onto the tarp. Shine the lamp directly down onto this
pile. The worms will burrow down to escape the light.
2. Have students take handfuls off the top layer of soil and put it in the plastic tub. Make sure
other students are scouting for missed worms in the bin. Once they have removed the top
layer, wait a few minuets for the worms to burrow down again. During this time, you can be
filling the worm bin with new bedding and food. Then remove another layer. You should be
left with a pile of worms at the end in a small amount of castings. Add these worms to the new
bedding (follow the procedure for setting up your worm bin).
Outside:
1. Take your worm castings outside and add to your garden soil or compost pile. Thank the
worms!
Extension
Weigh your worms during harvesting to determine how much they multiplied (based upon 1lb of
worms to start with.) Make a simple bar graph to represent population growth (Represent and
interpret data MA State standard 10.)
* MA Department of Ed. Standards in this lesson*
Life Science 1. Recognize that animals and plants are living things that grow, reproduce, and
need food, air and water. 8. Identify the ways in which an organism’s habitat provides for its
basic needs.
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of
Agricultural Resources.

5. Books and Resources Resources used for writing this guide included here.
Washington State University Extension
http://whatcom.wsu.edu/ag/compost/Redwormsedit.htm
USDA Natural Resources Cons. Service
State Office 451 West Street
Amherst, MA 01002
(413) 253-4350
Web Site: www.nrcs.usda.gov
Soil & Water Cons. Society of America
7515 Northwest Ankeny Road
Ankeny, IA 50021-9764
(800) THE Soil Fax: (515) 289-1227
Web Site: www.swcs.org
Book: Soil! The Inside Scoop
Soil Society of America
www.soils.org
Cornell Composting Website:
http://compost.css.cornell.edu/worms/basics.html
USDA Agricultural Research Service
Kids Science Projects
www.ars.usda.gov/is/kids/fair/story.htm
Book: Project Seasons, Shelburne Farms. http://store.shelburnefarms.org
Book: GrowLab®: Activities for Growing Minds. National Gardening Association. http://
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of
Agricultural Resources.

6. www.gardeningwithkids.org
Project Soil
http://projectsoil.org/project_soil
Soils and Conservation Website
with Soil Zoo : www.waite.adelaide.edu.au/school/Soil/index.html
Lesson supported by a Specialty Crops Grant from the Massachusetts Department of
Agricultural Resources.