How to Make a Wormery
You will need:
A large clean jar/transparent container
Soil/leaves/grass/sand/kaolin (fine powdery clay)
Worms
Black paper
Old pair of tights
Elastic bands
Step 1: Take the large clean container
Step 2: Find some leaves and grass. Put them on the
and fill it with layers of soil, sand and
kaolin. Make sure the layers are moist,
but not soaking.
surface of the soil to keep the moisture in the soil.
Step 3: Dig up 4-6 worms from the garden.
If the weather has been dry the worms may be deep down in the soil. Try soaking the soil before
digging or run and jump on the ground! This makes the worms think it is raining and they will come to
the soil surface.
Step 4: Cover the top with nylon tights and
secure it with an elastic band (or tape).
Cover the jar with black paper and keep it cool
and damp.
Step 5: After 4 days take off the paper. You
should be able to see some worm tunnels and the
layers getting mixed up!
Don’t forget to set your worms free after a few
days!!
© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users
Y2 Sc Living things and their habitats Session H
Habitat Enquiries
Woodlouse/Mealworm Enquiry:
Woodlouse/Mealworm Preferences
Children set up choice chambers (made in advance if appropriate) with four areas:
damp/dark; damp/light; dry/dark; dry/light – using blotting paper, water & black sugar
paper. Small pieces of vegetation/finely chopped carrots should also be provided in each
area (not large enough for organisms to hide under). Add the same number of minibeasts
to each area, cover with cling film to prevent organisms escaping. Leave undisturbed for
15 minutes (or longer), then count the number of minibeasts in each section. Were
children’s predictions correct?
Worm Enquiry:
Worm Preferences (create a wormery first – see above)
Using the Hamilton Trust Animated Facts ‘Worms’ explain to the children that Wanda and
William will make more compost if they are given the right food. Return to the Animated
Tale, & ask which food did Wanda & William like the most. What else was on offer? What
do worms prefer? Time to find out! Create a choice chamber for your wormery using the
explanation below. Choose four possible worm foods: one must be bread and Marmite™
as mentioned in the Animated Tale. Add the foods to the choice chamber in the wormery,
take a picture & cover. Discuss with chn which food they think the worms will be attracted
to first & record predictions. Return a few days later. What has happened? Which
predictions were correct? Suggest a suitable place to release the worms – cool, dark,
damp.
Snail Enquiry:
Snail Distribution (this can be done without the need for choice chambers)
In this enquiry children will be exploring which habitat is preferred by snails. Choosing as
many different habitats that are available to you within the school grounds as possible, ask
children to predict which they think snails prefer. The children then visit each habitat and
count the number of snails present in each. They should describe the habitats too, so that
they can compare the snails’ preferences later.
The children could then draw a bar chart of their findings to compare snail populations
between habitats. Conclusions can then be drawn from the data about which habitat they
preferred and why this might be.
© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users
Y2 Sc Living things and their habitats Session H
Making a Choice Chamber
You will need:
A plastic container, cling film, black sugar paper (if appropriate)
Soil or blotting paper and water
Card and scissors
Compostable foods: fruit peelings/vegetable peelings/bread with
marmite/leaves (this example is for worms) or vegetation as food in all areas
Minibeasts!
Step 1: Start by filling your transparent
container with soil or blotting paper.
Picture 1
Step 2: Cut your card to fit your container
both the length and width. Cut out thin
slits from each length of card (shown in
picture 1). Slot the two pieces of card
together (picture 2).
Picture 2
Step 3: Place the card cross into your
container (try to make all four sections the
same size). Now the 4 chambers are ready to
be filled (and/or covered to create a dark
habitat)! Water can be used at this point to
create a damp habitat. Then add your
minibeasts!
Leaves
Orange/banana/kiwi
peel and grapes
Bread with marmite
Mushroom peelings
You may need to cover the choice chamber with, e.g. clingfilm, to prevent escapees!
© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users
Y2 Sc Living things and their habitats Session H



What conditions will you use in your choice chamber? Complete the labels for each
section below.
Release your minibeasts into the choice chamber and leave for at least 15 minutes.
Then count how many minibeasts there are in each section and record in the box
below (number &/or drawing).
What conclusions can you draw from the results you have, about the habitat the
minibeasts prefer?
Prediction: I think that the minibeasts will collect in the
because
Number of minibeasts at end:
Number of minibeasts at end:
The number
of organisms
we put in our
choice
chamber
Number of minibeasts at end:
Number of minibeasts at end:
© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users
Y2 Sc Living things and their habitats Session H
Names:
This is what we want to find out:
This is how we will carry out the enquiry:
We will need:
This is what we will change:


This is what will stay the same:



This is what we found out:
Prediction:
We think…
because…
The chamber that most minibeasts collected in was…
because…
This is what we predicted./ We did not predict this.*
* delete as necessary
© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users
Y2 Sc Living things and their habitats Session H