How to conduct preliminary research:

First, Dr. Matthews would like you to research a list of questions about how the earthworm’s body works and how this helps to improve soil. You will write the answers to these questions in the form of notes on the Research Template. Next, you will work as a team on the second deliverable you’ll submit: a list of interesting ideas for features to change to make a “superworm.”

Research

1. Carefully review the list of questions in Dr. Matthews’ email and download the Preliminary Research Template that is attached to the email.
   
   
   • The Preliminary Research Template lists the questions you need to answer and provides space for your notes. You will use this template to guide your research, organize your notes, and communicate what you learn to your team members.
     
     
   • Read the sample entry on the template, and use it as a model for your own work.
     
     
2. Explore the resources available to you.
   
   
   1. Visit the Resources section (above) for links to information about earthworms and soil that will help you with your research. At this point, it may be helpful to browse the list to get an idea of what is available to you. In addition to numerous webpages with information to read, see the video resources Decomposers and Wowed by Worms which show why earthworms are important.
      
      
   2. Use the General Skills Resources on Conducting Research, available in the left menu, for additional guidance. In particular, note the recommendations that these resources make about judging the information you might find on the web. You might want to review these materials before you begin your research so you’ll be ready to evaluate web materials more effectively.
      
      
3. Organize your team to do the research.
   
   
   • It is up to your team to decide how to organize the research effort. You may want to use the strategy of “divide and conquer” so that team members split up the questions, or you may want everyone to do the same research. Each method has pros and cons.
     
     
   • Regardless of how you decide to divide the work, each individual needs to submit his/her own completed research template.
     
     
   • You have limited time to complete your research templates, so be sure to keep track of the time carefully.
     
     
4. Conduct research using the Internet to answer the questions listed in the email. (You may also use print resources, if they are available.)
   
   
   • Keep track of resources you find especially helpful so you can return to them when needed. You may want to print out the pages with the resource lists and take notes on them.
     
     
   • For this task, you are researching how the earthworm’s body parts work now, but you should do that with an eye toward creating a new kind of worm. While researching, keep track of any ideas for earthworm parts you might want to make even better (e.g. larger, more powerful, faster). Note your ideas in a separate place and save them for the team activity.
     
     
   • Remember: you will only be looking for features to change and improve; you will not be able to add new parts to the earthworm, such as legs.
     

Team Meeting to Work on Second Deliverable (Possible ImprovementsTemplate)

1. Meet with your team. First, discuss your research findings from the previous activity.
   
   
   • Each team member should spend a couple of minutes briefly reporting highlights of his/her research findings (recorded on the Preliminary Research Template).
     
     
     
2. As a team, complete the Possible ImprovementsTemplate. The goal is to develop a long list of potentially useful improvements.
   
   
   1. Everyone should download a copy of the Possible Improvements Template, the second attachment to Dr. Matthews' email.
      
      
   2. Choose someone to record notes for the team. You will only need to submit one completed template with all of the team’s ideas. However, everyone may wish to take notes on their own template to follow along more easily during the meeting.
      
      
   3. Work as a team to think about ideas for improving the earthworm’s ability to make fertile soil. Try to fill in as many rows as possible on the template, so that you have plenty of ideas to work with. For now, include even those ideas that seem a bit strange.
      
      
   4. You do not necessarily have to fill out the template in a specific order. Do what works best for you and your teammates to come up with creative ideas.
      
      
      • For example, you might want to work from left to right, starting with this question: what does the worm do well already that it could do better, faster, or stronger (with a changed body part)?
        
        
      • Or, you might want to think about possible changes to body parts first, starting with the question: what body parts might you change to make a more helpful worm? What would the changed body part help the worm to accomplish?
        
        
   5. When you run out of new ideas, stop. Go back and discuss each idea on the list and consider whether it is worthwhile to research.
      
      
   6. The goal is to have at least 1 or 2 ideas for each person to research, with a few to spare in case some are dead ends.
      
      
3. Finalize the document.
   
   
   • To finalize the document, be sure you have included all of the features (body parts) your team wants to consider changing. Explain how each change would ultimately help to improve the soil.
     
     
   • The document is complete when all team members have reviewed and approved it.

Check-in with Mentor and Team Status Meeting

1. Hold a team meeting with the mentor.
   
   
   • Before the meeting with your mentor, prepare questions about any issues that have come up during your preliminary research and team meeting.
     
     
   • Have a team meeting with your mentor to review the Possible Improvements list and ensure you are on the right track. Ask any questions you have about determining the final list.
     
     
   • With the mentor, discuss some ways to test your ideas in your next round of research, which will go into more depth. Make sure each team member is clear and ready to continue working before wrapping up the meeting.
     
     
   • If you need individual assistance beyond the time constraints of the meeting, set up a separate appointment with your mentor.
     
     
     
2. Meet with your team to update your status.
   
   
   • Update your Possible Improvements document based on any issues you discussed with your mentor.
     
     
   • Update the Research Status Chart that you started in Task 1 to reflect the new knowledge you have gathered. Identify and write new questions; note gaps in your knowledge that you would like to fill in. Keeping this document up to date will help guide you as you move forward with your research, reflecting what you knew before, what you know now, and what new questions you should be trying to answer.
     

Preliminary Research:

• Do use your preliminary research to build on your thoughts and questions from the prior task. Think about what you know and what you need to know as a guide for what you should be examining in detail.
  
  
• Do view web information with a critical eye and cross-check information with several reliable sources when possible.
  
  
• Don't get sidetracked by interesting but irrelevant websites during your research. Stay focused on the goal of your research session; you might even consider writing it down before you begin.
  

Completing the Possible Improvements Template

• Do judge when an idea is unworkable. Think about whether the weaknesses of an idea outweigh its potential strengths.
  
  
• Do balance the value of getting everyone's enthusiastic input with the need for a few solid ideas. Have lively discussions without missing your deadlines.
  
  
• Don't spend too much time on ideas that clearly won't work, even if you find them interesting. On the other hand, don't dismiss ideas without giving them a chance. Even seemingly outlandish ideas can get a team thinking in new directions that might ultimately lead to the best ideas, but be respectful of the team's time if they are ready to move the discussion forward. Be creative, but not so creative that you get little work done.
  

Note: When referring to a Wikipedia resource, note that while Wikipedia is a valuable resource, unlike some other websites anyone can contribute to or modify the site (whether they're knowledgeable about the topic or not). As a result, the site is subject to constant change by questionable sources. Be sure to cross-check information on Wikipedia with other reputable sites to ensure accuracy.

Video Resources

• A Lively Earthworm - This video from YouTube shows a nice, big example of Lumbricus terrestris, moving around on a man's arm. Ignore the talk about it just being "an intestine"-- there's much more to the earthworm!  
  
  
• Decomposers - This video segment from Interactive NOVA: "Earth" describes the role of decomposers in the environment. Fast forward about halfway through to see the earthworm-- "perhaps the king of the decomposers"-- doing its work. (Note: You don't need to register to view; just click on "Take a Test Drive." Use the progress bar to fast-forward, and be sure to click "on" to read the captions.)
  
  
• Earthworm "Hearts" - Earthworms are built rather differently than humans are. For example, they have five pairs of "hearts," or aortic arches. You can see them beating, one after another, in this video. The order of “squeezing” of the aortic arches contributes to the efficiency of this circulatory system.
  
  Here's what you'll see in the video: You are looking at the worm from its left side, with the head off the screen to the left. The aortic arches are the narrow bands in the lower-right portion of the image. Beginning at the head end (left) and proceeding to the right, the aortic arches darken as they fill with blood and become light again as the blood is squeezed out of them. They pump blood down into a blood vessel near the bottom (ventral) surface of the worm. From there, the blood flows toward the tail end. It eventually returns by way of another blood vessel lying near the top (dorsal) surface of the worm—ready to be pumped back down to the ventral blood vessel and on toward the tail end. (Note: If you make the video window smaller, you can see this text at the same time that you view the video.)



• Wowed by Worms - This video, from PBS's The Shape of Life series, shows a researcher and students from Colgate University searching for two different species of annelids.  The first is a marine annelid; the second is Lumbricus terrestris.

Introduction to the Common Earthworm

• About Lumbricus - This FAQ page will help you to get started. It will introduce some key concepts and terms that may help you seek out other specific information from the Web.
  
  
• Earthworm (from Wikipedia) - This entry provides a solid introduction to facts about the earthworm. There is a list of links for further research on earthworms at the end of the article.
  
  
• Earthworms and their relatives (from the University of Michigan) - This page provides answers to some basic questions about earthworms, including:
• What do they look like?
• Where in the world do they live?
• What kind of habitat do they need?
• How do they grow?
• How long do they live?
• How do they behave?
• How do they communicate with each other?
• What do they eat?
• What eats them and how do they avoid being eaten?
  

Definitions are provided for all of the key biology terms used on the page to describe the earthworm; just right-click on the terms in blue to open the glossary.

• The Earthworm (from G.J. McKenzie of Middleton Grange School, New Zealand) - This page provides basic facts about the earthworm’s key systems.
  

Earthworm Anatomy and Physiology (General)

Note: Anatomy means the animal’s “structure” and physiology means “how the parts function.”

• Earthworm (from World Book) provides some anatomical diagrams of the earthworm and simple, clear explanation of how the earthworm moves, breathes, and reproduces.
  
  
• Earthworms (unique features) - This is another reader-friendly page with interesting facts about the earthworm’s anatomy and physiology and some useful diagrams.  It answers the following questions:                                      
• Are earthworms important?
• How do earthworms travel? (Describes the features that enable them to move.)
• How are earthworms constructed? (Points out some of the earthworm's unique adaptations.)
• How do earthworms reproduce? (Illustrates the locations of the reproductive organs.)
  
  
• About Earthworms - This page answers the following questions:
• How does an earthworm eat?  (Includes a diagram of the digestive system.)
• Where do earthworms live?  (Describes some adaptations and survival strategies for their environment.)
• How do earthworms reproduce? (Contains an illustration of earthworm reproduction.)
• What do earthworms do?
  
  
• Glossary - This page lists definitions for over 50 vocabulary words related to earthworms, including the scientific names for many anatomical features. Use this as a tool to help you read the resources on earthworms.
  

• About Earthworms (Anatomy) - This page contains a diagram of the earthworm’s external anatomy and describes important anatomical features. 
  
  
• Earthworm Anatomy - External Features - This page provides more detail about the earthworm’s external features. It breaks down the external anatomy into its different parts and clearly explains and illustrates each feature.
  
  
• Meeting An Earthworm - This site offers a number of activities that involve working with live earthworms to learn earthworm anatomy, including doing a scientific sketch of the features of a live earthworm.  Try this if you can gather live earthworms in your area.  Even if you don’t wish to do this activity, there is useful information on anatomy here.

• Locomotion - This webpage describes four different methods of locomotion used by invertebrates. Click on “hydrostatic” for a detailed description of the method of locomotion used by earthworms.
  
  
• Virtual Worm Tour (digestive system) - This site gives a "virtual tour" of the earthworm's digestive system, with animation. (Warning: the tour is terrific, but do not take the quiz following the tour, as there is an error in the answer key.)
  
  
• Earthworm Animation (digestive system)- In addition to seeing the way the worm’s digestive system works, you may be interested in looking at this site to learn about a career in scientific visualization.
  

• About Soils and Agriculture -See this FAQ page to start to learn about soils, their functions for plants, and what earthworms do to soils to make them more supportive of plant growth. This page also explains some common problems with soil.
  
  
• Earthworm (Benefits) - The Wikipedia entry on earthworms contains a section on the benefits of earthworm activities to soil fertility.
  
  
• About Earthworms (Ecology) - Scroll down this page to the section titled What do earthworms do?  See Figures 6 and 7 on the relationship between earthworm activities and soil quality, soil productivity, and ultimately food quality, environmental quality, and health.
  
  
• Introduction to Earthworm Science - This page explains what the earthworm does that improves the soil. Skip the introduction on earthworm investigations and scroll down to the following sections:
  
  • Earthworm Science Background Information
  • The Living Soil: Earthworms
  • What do earthworms do?


• Earthworms: The Agriculturalist's Friends - This journal article explores how earthworms influence soil fertility and how agricultural activities affect earthworms.
  
  
• Agronomy Guide: Soil Management (from Penn State) - This guide discusses some of the key properties of soil health. There is a section about earthworms and soil toward the end. Click on Next Page for a chart you can use to evaluate and monitor soil health.
  
  
• Soil Health and Drought - Look at this slide show to learn the characteristics of different kinds of soils and strategies to preserve the health of the soil in places where there is risk of drought.

Annelids

The common earthworm Lumbricus terrestris is one species that belongs to a larger group of segmented worms, called Phylum Annelida. Here is some information on the Annelids:

• Annelida (from The Columbia Encyclopedia) - This is a well-organized encyclopedia entry that describes the characteristics of annelids, including information on the major organ systems. Note that earthworms are members of the subgroup of annelids called Oligochaeta.  Skip the section on Class Polychaeta and scroll down to the section on Class Oligochaeta for information relevant to earthworms.
  
  
• Annelid (from Wikipedia) - This entry about annelids is informative; however, the writing is dense with scientific terminology. 
  
  
• Phylum Annelida (from Animal Diversity Web) - This entry on Phylum Annelida is another science-heavy resource.
  

Related Topics

• Genetic Engineering: Human's Playground (from ThinkQuest) - To see what genetic engineering is all about, go to this website, designed for high school students.  The History section gives some interesting background, showing how long people have been trying to alter organisms and some of their actual scientific achievements. (You do not need this information to complete the tasks in this rotation, but you may find it interesting to see the broader context.)