Name: _______________________________ Date: ______________________ Period: _______
LIVE EARTHWORM LAB
Introduction: Today you will be doing a live lab dealing with earthworms!! We will be seeing
what types of environments these worms prefer and why they may prefer them. This lab is up to
you as to what you do with it. You will be following the normal experimental design, meaning
you need a question, background information/research, a hypothesis, materials, a procedure,
data, and analysis.
Note: You MUST keep the earthworms moist for the entire lab; this does not mean soaking wet.
Handle the worms with care. You should not be moving them around, squeezing them, poking
them, or anything. Simply pick them up and place them down for your experiment.
Question: CIRCLE ONE QUESTION THAT YOU ARE MOST INTERESTED IN.
1. Do earthworms prefer light or dark environments?
2. Do earthworms prefer moist or dry environments?
Research:
Use your knowledge of annelids (you may use your notes and your dissection worksheet) to help
with your question. For example, if you chose to do an experiment about wet and dry
environments, maybe information about how they move may be helpful.
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Hypothesis:
I believe the earthworms will prefer ___________________________ environment. I will know
that this is the case because the earthworms will _________________________________ in this
environment.
Experiment:
In this lab there are a few key steps.
Step 1. You will gather all the necessary materials for your experiment.
Step 2. You must write a detailed procedure.
Step 3. You must record all data
Step 4. You must write a conclusion and answer analysis questions.
Materials:
For wet/dry experiment:
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Live earthworm
Tray
Water
Eye dropper (this will keep the worm
moist)
Timer
Paper towels
For light/dark experiment:
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Live earthworm
Tray
Water
Eye dropper (this will keep the worm
moist)
Timer
A light source
Cardboard
Procedure:
You must write a detailed procedure as to how you will perform this experiment. You need to
include the following in your write-up: the materials used, how much of each material was used,
how many trials you plan to do (you must do at least 2 trials), the time of each trial, and how to
set up the experiment. You MUST clean up after your experiment and return the earthworms to
the proper location
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Data:
Trial #
1
2
3
Observation
Conclusion:
1.) Based on your experiment, which environment did the earthworm prefer?
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2.) Did your observations support your hypothesis? Why or why not?
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3.) Why do you think this response to either moisture or light helps them to survive?
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4.) How are earthworms able to move through soil? How do you think moisture helps that?
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