I would like to welcome you to the science and technology team of the Bill E. Clark Foundation.  I have decided to devote some of my own money to advancing scientific knowledge to address big health-related problems facing the world today. Thank you for joining me in this important effort.

Project Background
A few months ago, an acquaintance of mine suggested a rather odd idea. He started by saying that there are a lot of areas in the world that do not produce enough food, which is certainly true. But then, he proposed something that surprised me. He said that earthworms could solve this problem! Earthworms? I had no idea what earthworms could possibly do to increase food where there are shortages, so I asked him to explain how that would work.

He said that earthworms help the soil where they live. He explained that, just by moving through the soil, they leave behind tunnels, and the tunnels allow water and air into the soil. The air and water have a much easier time reaching the roots of plants that are growing in the soil, helping the plants to grow. He also added that worms also eat pieces of plants and other nutrients that are found in the soil, and the waste that they produce helps fertilize the soil, which also helps plants grow. And then he talked a lot more about other things that earthworms do to help soil...but he said so much, I can't quite remember everything.

What he was proposing was that we somehow "improve" the worm to help plants grow even more. If we did that, then we could grow more crops, which could then be used to help feed the world. A "superworm" to solve world hunger! Of course, after explaining all of this, this guy suggested I might fund his idea. And so I am torn. On the one hand, I do find the “superworm” concept very interesting, and world hunger is certainly a big health-related problem that needs to be solved. But there are a lot of ideas out there, both good and bad, and I’m not yet sure if this one is worth the trouble. It would cost a lot of money, time and effort to make it all happen. That’s where you come in.

Your Job
Together with your research team, I need you to tell me whether you think I should fund the superworm project. To support your recommendation, you'll create a presentation that answers the following questions:

• What particular changes to the earthworm would you suggest that will improve soil the most?
• How would each of your suggested changes improve the soil?
• If you decide that there really aren't any effective changes that can be made to the earthworm to improve soil, then you should say so, and you should explain why you came to that conclusion.
• For any changes you propose, would the altered earthworm actually be able to survive? How?

Not only will you answer each question, but you'll also need to justify your answers; I need to know that your recommendation is well-supported and not just your personal opinion! However, one issue you do not need to worry about is how we will actually go about making the changes you suggest; I have a separate team that would handle that part of the problem.

Your Supervisor
I have appointed Dr. Jamie Matthews, my lead scientist and research director on this project, to oversee your work. Dr. Matthews will be in touch with you soon to discuss the details of the project.

I look forward to hearing your recommendations!

Best regards,

Bill E. Clark

 

 

Welcome to the Bill E. Clark Foundation!  I am here to guide you as you research cutting-edge ideas related to human health and welfare.

Your Job
As Mr. Clark mentioned, you will be working in teams to develop a presentation that answers his questions about the superworm project. Just to remind you, these were:

• What particular changes to the earthworm would you suggest that will improve soil the most?
• How would each of your suggested changes improve the soil?
• If you decide that there really aren't any effective changes that can be made to the earthworm to improve soil, then you should say so, and you should explain why you came to that conclusion.
• For any changes you propose, would the altered earthworm actually be able to survive? How?

In order to be able to answer those questions, you certainly need to know a little bit about earthworms! So, your first step will be to do some research, both with your team members and on your own. As we get closer to your presentation, you will be submitting some of your work to me so I can give you feedback and suggestions that will help you create the best presentation possible. When you finally present, you will present to me and to your peers, rather than to Mr. Clark. I will hear all of the presentations, summarize what I have heard, and bring those conclusions to Mr. Clark.

What you need to know to get started
There are over 5,000 varieties (species) of earthworms, but you will focus your efforts on the most common species, called Lumbricus terrestris.  When Mr. Clark and I first considered this whole idea, we had a number of general ideas about possible changes to the earthworm to make it "better" at improving the soil, but you should feel free to add your own. Be creative! Here is what we came up with so far:

• We can make a bigger earthworm.
• We can make an earthworm that will be able to defend itself better against its predators.
• We can improve the ability of the earthworm to reproduce, so we end up with more earthworms.
• We can make the earthworm more "efficient"--so it can do more without using more energy or more nutrients from the soil.
• We can give the earthworm better sight, or better hearing...better senses.
• We can give the earthworm the ability to live in many different types of soil (like clay or salty soil) so it can help grow different kinds of crops.

We are not sure exactly how each of these might lead to better soil, but they are ideas that you can start with. You should look into specific changes that fall into the categories above or others that you’ve thought up on your own. By "specific changes," I mean that you need to tell me details. Don't just tell me that the earthworm should have a better defense against a predator. Instead, tell me that birds eat earthworms, but if the earthworm had a thicker, tougher skin, then the birds would not be able to eat the earthworm so easily. That would be a "specific change" related to predators.

We have two rules about the changes you propose:

• The change must not kill earthworms. You will need to research whether your change would actually be viable. That is, could earthworms survive with the change you are proposing? For example, would earthworms with thicker, tougher skin still be able to live? Would the thicker, tougher skin interfere with other parts of the earthworm, killing them? Obviously, it would be terrible to implement a change that earthworms could not live with, so you need to avoid those kinds of problems from the start.
• The change must not add a feature to the earthworm that it does not already have. Earthworms do not have legs. You cannot propose that we add legs to earthworms. You can only change or improve parts that the earthworm already has.

Your First Step
I will help you tackle this problem one step at a time. The first step, before you even start to research, is to think about what you will need to know about the earthworm before you can come up with ideas for changes to make. Otherwise, you will not know what you are looking for when you do your research! To this end, I’d like you to meet with your team members to fill in a status chart to help guide your research as you go. The status chart will track what you know so far (which will be very little at the start) and the questions that you need to answer; those unanswered questions will be the ones to research.

Just as an example, you know that the earthworm in its present form does some things that help the soil. This may not sound like much, but it points you to some questions that you probably want to ask. Do you know what the earthworm does, specifically? Do you know how it does those things? Those are the kinds of questions you will want to track...and then answer. "What does the earthworm do that is beneficial for the soil?"

I have attached a blank chart with a few simple examples to get you started.

Once you have created an exhaustive list of questions, indicate the questions that you believe will be most critical in helping you to design a new and better worm. When you are done, please submit these questions for my review.  

I look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Jamie Matthews, PhD

'All the fertile areas of this planet have at least once passed through the bodies of earthworms.' -Charles Darwin