Earthworm Invaders
By Erica Sprague
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By Erica Sprague
Click on image to download a printable version of this lesson plan
We would greatly appreciate your feedback! Click here to complete a short survey telling us about your experience with this lesson plan.
Lesson Overview
This lesson is integrated into a 6th grade PBL project about biodiversity and the invasive worm ideas came from the Smithsonian Science Education Academy for Teachers Biodiversity Session that I attended in 2012. Students have learned about the different energy roles in food webs and why biodiversity is vital to the survival of an ecosystem. This lesson focuses on the role of earthworms in the food web and how invasive earthworms are having a devastating effect on some forest ecosystems in the United States. They will learn more about earthworm species, why they can be considered invasive, and do a lab to collect earthworms around the school.
Sources Consulted
Smithsonian: Ecosystems on the Edge-Earthworm Invaders / Ecosystems on the Edge (alternate site)
Great Lakes Worm Watch
Expert Contact @ Smithsonian: Melissa McCormick Contact Site
“Ecosystem effects of non-native earthworms in Mid-Atlantic deciduous forests” Szlavecz, K., McCormick, M., Xia, L. et al. Biol Invasions (2011) 13: 1165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-9959-0
Learning Objectives
After the lesson, students will be able to…
Michigan Science Standards Addressed
SEP: Science and Engineering Practices
List of Materials
Room Arrangement or Special Needs
Students are grouped together for the activities and lab (3-4 students max).
Outdoors: Area to collect worms for lab: Forest to see if earthworm invaders are present in the forests (finding worms here is NOT good). A yard or football field will work and will yield more worms (note-worms are HEALTHY in an agricultural or garden setting, so worms here are good)
New Vocabulary
1. Invasive Species: A non-native species in an ecosystem that may cause harm to the economy, the environment or human health.
2. Community: A group of different species living and interacting in the same area
Population: A group of the same species living and interacting in the same area
3. Species: A group of similar individuals that are able to breed with one another and produce fertile offspring
4. Epigeic: Worms that live in leaf litter on the forest floor and do NOT burrow. They are usually darker in color and found only at the surface. Great Lakes Worm Watch
5. Endogeic: Worms that make shallow burrows, are smaller and usually have light or no pigmentation. Great Lakes Worm Watch
6. Anecic: Largest worms, live in vertical burrows and have dorsal pigmentation. Great Lakes Worm Watch
5E Model Lesson Plan
Engage - Guiding Question: Are Worms Friend or Foe?
Students should already know that earthworms play a very important role as decomposers in food webs. Ask students if they think worms are always a benefit to ecosystems. Ask them if they can think of a situation where worms are harmful to ecosystems. The teacher may or may not reveal at this point that most earthworms in the Great Lakes area are non-native species. Our job will be to determine if earthworms in Mid-Michigan should be considered invasive or not.
Explore - Activities
1. Know/Need to Know: Ask students to document everything they think they know about worms so far. Ask them to also document what they want to know about worms. This can be in a T-table, a big class paper with sticky notes, or for fun, an online sticky board at http://scrumblr.ca/
2. Attention Grabber-Worm Facts: These can be displayed in a handout or on slides...
3. Reading Option 1: Article: The Early Worm Gets the Bird: This is a short, easy to read article that is easily paired with a reading for information strategy. It will start to shed light on earthworms as invasive species. It may get students thinking of ways to prevent further spread of earthworm invaders. Teachers could consider doing a Q&A worksheet and/or reading for comprehension strategy as a graded assignment. This article will help students to understand that…
4. Reading Option 2: Web Article: Forest Ecology and Worms This website is linked to the Great Lakes Worm watch website. This is great to use if your students have web access. There are lots of great images to help students see how worms can negatively affect a forest ecosystem, mainly by decreasing leaf litter. It also addresses that while worms can be great for gardens and agriculture, they can upset the forest ecology. For older students, you may want to consider the next page, which shows a detailed model of Forest Ecology.
5. Video Option: Ecosystems on the Edge Students can see actual research being done at a research center. Scientists are closely monitoring the effect invasive worms are having on the forests on the east coast. Check in after the video to see if students can tell you why they consider worms invasive and not “non-native” in that area.
6. Pre-Lab Learning: Students will need to learn more about the types of worms they may encounter during the lab. The website Great Lakes Worm Watch will go over the terms epigeic, endogeic and anecic worms, in addition to species of worms that are found in our area. While students will mainly be concerned with counting worms during lab, it is important to at least know the three main types. Students should know that in a garden/athletic field setting, no epigeic worms will be found because there is no leaf litter!
Explain - Lab Data and Evidence
Elaborate - Student Share Out
Evaluate - Apply Knowledge
This lesson is integrated into a 6th grade PBL project about biodiversity and the invasive worm ideas came from the Smithsonian Science Education Academy for Teachers Biodiversity Session that I attended in 2012. Students have learned about the different energy roles in food webs and why biodiversity is vital to the survival of an ecosystem. This lesson focuses on the role of earthworms in the food web and how invasive earthworms are having a devastating effect on some forest ecosystems in the United States. They will learn more about earthworm species, why they can be considered invasive, and do a lab to collect earthworms around the school.
Sources Consulted
Smithsonian: Ecosystems on the Edge-Earthworm Invaders / Ecosystems on the Edge (alternate site)
Great Lakes Worm Watch
Expert Contact @ Smithsonian: Melissa McCormick Contact Site
“Ecosystem effects of non-native earthworms in Mid-Atlantic deciduous forests” Szlavecz, K., McCormick, M., Xia, L. et al. Biol Invasions (2011) 13: 1165. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-011-9959-0
Learning Objectives
After the lesson, students will be able to…
- Describe how invasive earthworms impact the ecosystems and food webs in which they live
- Design an experiment to investigate the health of a local forest based on the number and types of worms found during the earthworm collection lab
- Compare and contrast worm collection data from both the forest ecosystem and an agricultural setting and discuss the pros and cons of worm populations/communities in these areas
Michigan Science Standards Addressed
SEP: Science and Engineering Practices
- Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
- Analyzing and Interpreting Data
- MS-LS2-1 Analyze and interpret data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms and populations of organisms in an ecosystem.
- MS-LS2-3 Develop a model to describe the cycling of matter and flow of energy among living and nonliving parts of an ecosystem.
- MS-LS2-4 Construct an argument supported by empirical evidence that changes to physical or biological components of an ecosystem affect populations.
- Cause and Effect
- Stability and Change
List of Materials
- Computer access to links or printed articles.
- Worm Extraction Solution: ⅓ c ground mustard per gallon of water (milk jugs work well)
- Worm Lab: 4 meter sticks and collection cup per group, worm identification chart, worm collection data table, optional: student lab handout
Room Arrangement or Special Needs
Students are grouped together for the activities and lab (3-4 students max).
Outdoors: Area to collect worms for lab: Forest to see if earthworm invaders are present in the forests (finding worms here is NOT good). A yard or football field will work and will yield more worms (note-worms are HEALTHY in an agricultural or garden setting, so worms here are good)
- Forest Ecosystem: Students will see if there are any invasive earthworms in the forests. They will document the type of forest, amount of leaf litter, and if possible, test the soil for pH, etc. The Great Lakes area does not yet have the same invasive worm problem as eastern forests. The videos from Smithsonian will highlight the vast impact the worms have had on forests there. If students do not find any worms in the forest in the Great Lakes Region, that’s good!
- Agricultural Setting: With permission, use a well groomed football field, grassy area or garden. Students will most likely find a LOT of worms here and it is good to test the soil here if possible too! Students can compare this data with the forest data and can research why worms are a value to these types of locations.
New Vocabulary
1. Invasive Species: A non-native species in an ecosystem that may cause harm to the economy, the environment or human health.
2. Community: A group of different species living and interacting in the same area
Population: A group of the same species living and interacting in the same area
3. Species: A group of similar individuals that are able to breed with one another and produce fertile offspring
4. Epigeic: Worms that live in leaf litter on the forest floor and do NOT burrow. They are usually darker in color and found only at the surface. Great Lakes Worm Watch
5. Endogeic: Worms that make shallow burrows, are smaller and usually have light or no pigmentation. Great Lakes Worm Watch
6. Anecic: Largest worms, live in vertical burrows and have dorsal pigmentation. Great Lakes Worm Watch
5E Model Lesson Plan
Engage - Guiding Question: Are Worms Friend or Foe?
Students should already know that earthworms play a very important role as decomposers in food webs. Ask students if they think worms are always a benefit to ecosystems. Ask them if they can think of a situation where worms are harmful to ecosystems. The teacher may or may not reveal at this point that most earthworms in the Great Lakes area are non-native species. Our job will be to determine if earthworms in Mid-Michigan should be considered invasive or not.
Explore - Activities
1. Know/Need to Know: Ask students to document everything they think they know about worms so far. Ask them to also document what they want to know about worms. This can be in a T-table, a big class paper with sticky notes, or for fun, an online sticky board at http://scrumblr.ca/
2. Attention Grabber-Worm Facts: These can be displayed in a handout or on slides...
- 99% of worms are NOT native and many are considered invasive
- Worms can migrate up to 30 ft a year
- Worms can live up to 10 years
- There are 2700 species of worms worldwide
- Worms breathe through their skin
- Worms come in MANY colors
- In 24 hours, a single worm can produce their own weight in “casts” (aka worm poo)
- Some species of worms can JUMP up to a foot off the ground.
3. Reading Option 1: Article: The Early Worm Gets the Bird: This is a short, easy to read article that is easily paired with a reading for information strategy. It will start to shed light on earthworms as invasive species. It may get students thinking of ways to prevent further spread of earthworm invaders. Teachers could consider doing a Q&A worksheet and/or reading for comprehension strategy as a graded assignment. This article will help students to understand that…
- Earthworms are not native and if they ever existed in North America, it was prior to the last Ice Age
- Non native earthworms are spread mainly by anglers letting bait go free
- Evidence exists that earthworms could be considered invasive due to the effect they are having on ground dwelling birds
- Once earthworms are in an ecosystem, it is difficult to stop their spread.
4. Reading Option 2: Web Article: Forest Ecology and Worms This website is linked to the Great Lakes Worm watch website. This is great to use if your students have web access. There are lots of great images to help students see how worms can negatively affect a forest ecosystem, mainly by decreasing leaf litter. It also addresses that while worms can be great for gardens and agriculture, they can upset the forest ecology. For older students, you may want to consider the next page, which shows a detailed model of Forest Ecology.
5. Video Option: Ecosystems on the Edge Students can see actual research being done at a research center. Scientists are closely monitoring the effect invasive worms are having on the forests on the east coast. Check in after the video to see if students can tell you why they consider worms invasive and not “non-native” in that area.
6. Pre-Lab Learning: Students will need to learn more about the types of worms they may encounter during the lab. The website Great Lakes Worm Watch will go over the terms epigeic, endogeic and anecic worms, in addition to species of worms that are found in our area. While students will mainly be concerned with counting worms during lab, it is important to at least know the three main types. Students should know that in a garden/athletic field setting, no epigeic worms will be found because there is no leaf litter!
Explain - Lab Data and Evidence
- Students will create a hypothesis and discuss where they think more worms will be found, in the forest or in the agricultural setting (for our kids, it was the football field). Teachers may want to design their own handout for this activity or use this one Worm Lab Handout
- Students will then design a data collection document to conduct the worm lab. See Worm Lab Handout
- Lab/Collection Day: If you are able, have half the class collect data in the forest setting and the other half in the agricultural setting. See Worm Lab Handout for lab setup and materials. Students will collect their data and report out the next day.
Elaborate - Student Share Out
- The teacher will need to make all student data available to all the groups. Data sheets can be printed or shared online. It is very important for groups to have access to all data so that they can analyze the worm counts at each site and make a conclusion.
- Student groups will complete the analysis of data on the Worm Lab Handout.
- Groups may meet and share in a group “Think-Pair-Share” activity. These discussions and activities should help to prepare students to make an individual written conclusion about their findings.
Evaluate - Apply Knowledge
- Remind students of the driving question Are Worms Friend or Foe? And remind them of the definition of invasive species. Introduce the assessment! Students will be graded on this lesson with a written essay question to answer the driving question in an argumentative format.
- Using the prior experiences in class (articles, video and discussions) as well as lab data, determine whether or not the worms in our area, while NON native, should be classified as an invasive species.
- Pre-writing activity: Students may need time in class to reflect on activities, gather and analyze more data or search the web for more information. You may also need to go over the pieces of an argumentative essay.
- Teachers should create an appropriate grading rubric to score each student on the following criteria:
- Ability to use examples, sources and lab data to support their conclusion that worms are to be considered invasive or simply non-native (grading content and knowledge)
- Ability to write an argument in an organized fashion (grading writing skills)
New lesson plan ideas are welcome and will be uploaded as they are received and approved.
Instructions for submitting lesson plans for:
About invasive species,
About science and science careers
For information about submitting new lesson plans, please contact jchadde(at)mtu.edu
Lesson plan ideas from other web sites:
From Pennsylvania Sea Grant: 10 lesson plans about interactions of invasive species, biodiversity, and climate change
Creation of the above page of educational resources was funded in part by the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program through the Departments of Natural Resources, Environmental Quality, and Agricultural and Rural Development.
This material is also based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1614187.
Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.